
^H^^H^^I 






Class \.i 









took 



CORY'S 

ANCIENT FRAGMENTS 



OF THE 

PHOENICIAN, CARTHAGINIAN, BABYLONIAN, 
EGYPTIAN AND OTHER AUTHORS. 



ft Jlefo an* lEnlargeUi <&&ttfotr; 

THE TRANSLATION CAREFULLY REVISED, AND ENRICHED WITH NOTES 
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY, WITH INTRODUCTIONS 
TO THE SEVERAL FRAGMENTS. 



BY 

E. RICHMOND HODGES, 

M.C.P. ; Fellow of the Society of Biblical Archaeology ; late Missionary to the 

Jews in Egypt, Syria, and North Africa ; Editor of the "Principia Hebraica;" 

and Joint-Reviser (with Dr. Gotch) of the "Authorised Version of 

the Old Testament" from the Hebrew and Chaldee Texts. 



LONDON : 

REEVES & TURNER, 196, STRAND. 

1876. 






S)f/L) 



TO 

SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., 

Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum ; 

President of the Society of Biblical Archeology, 

etc., etc., etc. 

AS A SCHOLAR TO WHOM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY IS 

INDEBTED FOR THE RESUSCITATION OF SO MUCH OF 

THE LONG-BURIED LEARNING OF THE ANCIENT 

WORLD, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED, WITH 

THE MOST PROFOUND RESPECT AND 

ADMIRATION, BY 

THE EDITOR. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Those pieces which are for the first time published in this work are 
marked with a *. 



Dedication iii 

Advertisement v 

Editor's Preface vii 

On the Origin, Progress, and Results of Hieroglyphic and 

Cuneiform Decipherment. By the Editor .... xiv 

On Phoenician Literature : Introduction to Sanchoniathon. By 

the Editor . . xxxii 



SANCHONIATHON. 

The Fragments of Sanchoniathon : — 

Extracted from Eusebius i 

„ .. Porphyry 21 

„ „ Philo-Byblius, or Porphyry . . 22 



THE TYRIAN ANNALS. 
From Dius and MENANDER. 
The Fragments of the Tyrian Annals : — 

Extracted from Dius ...... 27 

„ „ Menander 28 



CONTENTS. 



THE PERIPLUS OF HANNO. 



Introduction to the Periplus of Hanno 35 

The Voyage of Hanno, Commander of the Carthaginians . 36 



CHALDEAN HISTORY. 
From Berosus, Abydenus, and Megasthenes. 

Introduction to Berosus. By the Editor 43 

The Fragments of Berosus : — 

Extracted from Apollodorus 51 

„ Abydenus 53 

„ Alexander Polyhistor . . "' . 56 

„ Josephus, the Jewish Historian . . 64 

„ Athenasus 68 

„ * Clement, Bishop of Alexandria . 69 

„ Seneca ...... 70 

The Fragments of Megasthenes : — 

Extracted from Abydenus .71 

Chald^ean Fragments. 

Of the Ark. From Nicolas of Damascus 74 

Concerning the Dispersion of Mankind after the Flood. From 

Hestiaeus 74 

Concerning the Tower of Babel. From Alexander Polyhistor . 75 

From the Sibylline Oracles 75 

Concerning the Tower of Babel and Abraham. From Eupolemus J7 

Concerning Abraham. From Nicolas of Damascus . . 78 
* Of Abraham and his Descendants, and of Moses and the Land 

of Israel. From Justin, out of Trogus Pompeius . . 78 

Concerning Belus. From Eupolemus 82 

From Thallus 82 

Of the Assyrian Empire. From Ktesias .... 83 

From Diodorus Siculus ... 83 

■ From Herodotus .... 84 

Of Nabopollasar. From Alexander Polyhistor .... 84 
Of the Chaldtean and Assyrian Kings. From Alexander Poly- 
histor , " 85 



CONTENTS. 

Of Sennacherib. From Alexander Polyhistor .... 86 

Of Sennacherib and his Successors. From Alexander Polyhistor 87 

Of Sennacherib and his Successors. From Abydenus . . 89 

Of Belus and the Assyrian Empire. From Castor ... 90 

Chaldaean Theogony. From Damascius . . . . 92 

* From Agathias 92 



EGYPTIAN HISTORIES. 

Containing the Old Chronicle ; the Remains of Manetho ; and 
the Laterculus of Eratosthenes. 

Introduction. By the Editor : — 

Biographical Notice of Abydenus .... 95 

„ Megasthehes ... 95 

„ Eratosthenes .... 96 

„ Apollodorus ... 96 

„ Julius Africanus ... 97 

„ Alexander Polyhistor . 101 
„ George the Syncellus . .102 

Introduction to the Lists of Manetho. By the Editor . . 104 

The Fragments of Manetho 109 

The Egyptian Dynasties. — The Dynasty of the 

Demigods in 

The Egyptian Dynasties after the Deluge . . .112 

The Second Book of Manetho . . . . 117 

The Third Book of Manetho 121 

Of the Shepherd Kings 126 

Of the Israelites 131 

The Old Egyptian Chronicle 136 

Erastosthenes' Canon of the Kings of Thebes . . . .138 



Miscellaneous Fragments. 

Of the Exodus. From Chseremon . 

• From Diodorus Siculus 

From Lysimachus . 



142 
. 143 

144 

From Polemo 146 

From Ptolemaeus Mendesius . . . 146 
From Artabanus 147 



CONTENTS. 



The Obelisk of Heliopolis. From Ammianus Mavcellinus . 148 
Of the Siriadic Columns. From Josephus . . . . .151 



INDIAN FRAGMENTS. 

From Megasthenes. 

The Fragments of Megasthenes : — 

Of the Ancient Histories of India . ... 153 

Of the Castes of India 1 56 

Of the Philosophers 161 

Of the Philosophical Sects 162 

Of the Indian Suicides 166 

Of the Philosophers. From Clitarchus . . . . .167 

Of the Indian Astronomy. From the Paschal Chronicle . 167 



ATLANTIC AND PANCrLEAN FRAGMENTS. 

From Marcellus and Euemerus. 

Of the Atlantic Island. From Marcellus 171 

Panchaaan Fragments. From Euemerus .... 172 



MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS. 

* Of the Jews. From Hecataeus of Abdera . . . . 177 
* From Agatharchides of Cnidus . . . .183 

* Concerning the Septuagint Version. From the Epistle of 

Demetrius Phalereus to the King . . . . 185 

Fragment of King Hiempsal's Punic Books. From Sallust . 186 

Velleius Paterculus and vEmilius Sura . . . . . 190 

* Cleanthes, Biographical Notice of. By the Editor . . .191 

* The Hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter. From Stobaeus . . 192 
OF the Chakteean Observations. From Pliny .... 194 

* Of the Manners of the Babylonians. From Nicolas of Damascus 194 
The Canon of the Kings of Egypt. From Diodorus Siculus . 199 

Index, Rerum et Verborum 205 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The work of which we here present to the public 
a new edition, was published by the late Isaac 
Preston Cory nearly half a century ago. After a 
few years a new and enlarged edition 1 was called 
for, which was so well received by the public that it 
has long been out of print. The book being still 
in great demand by students of antiquity, we have 
resolved on meeting the wishes of the public by 
issuing a new edition. We have caused the trans- 
lation to be revised, and have added introductions 
to the several fragments, together with notes and 
explanations supplied from the recently-interpreted 
hieroglyphic and cuneiform texts, and from the re- 
searches of competent scholars. We have thus 
sought to make the student acquainted with the 
various sources of information which have been dis- 
covered since this collection of fragments first ap- 
peared, and to throw some light from the mounds 
of Nineveh and the temples of Egypt upon these 
relics of the long-forgotten past. 

1 The 2nd edition was published in 1832. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



In giving to the public a new edition of Cory's 
Ancient Fragments I have endeavoured to respond 
to the wishes of numerous literary friends by fur- 
nishing a brief account of the several authors to 
whom we are indebted for these extracts, and, at 
the same time, some information respecting the deci- 
pherment of the hieroglyphic texts of Egypt, and 
the cuneiform records of Nineveh and Babylon. 

The first edition of this work appeared in 1826, 
the second in 1832 ; therefore, at a time when 
Egyptian scholarship was still in its infancy, while 
cuneiform research had not yet seen the light. The 
discoveries of Champollion, Young, Birch, Bunsen, 
Brugsch, Chabas, Le Page Renouf, Godwin, and 
a host of other scholars in the former field of re- 
search, and of Layard, Botta, Rawlinson, N orris, 
Oppert, Menant, George -Smith, Sayce, Fox Talbot, 
and Schrader in the latter, have furnished so much 
valuable information respecting the ancient empires 
of Egypt and Assyria, that we can no longer rest 
satisfied with the meagre accounts transmitted to us 
by the classic writers concerning times and people 
with which they were themselves but imperfectly 



Vlll EDITORS PREFACE. 

acquainted. At a time, therefore, when, thanks to 
the labours of the distinguished scholars above 
named, we can read with considerable facility and 
astonishing certainty the papyri of Egypt and the 
clay-tablets of Babylon, it behoves us to pause for 
a moment, and consider how this wonderful mine 
of ancient treasures was discovered, and the means 
by which it has been worked. Cory's Fragments 
constitute a fitting supplement to the fragments 
which have been exhumed from the mounds of 
Nineveh, and rescued from the tombs and mummy- 
pits of Egypt. Considered in this light they will 
be found to explain and complete^one another ; for, 
in the one we have Assyrians and Egyptians speak- 
ing for themselves each in his own tongue ; in the 
other the information is supplied through a Greek 
channel, and reaches us, no doubt, more or less 
coloured by the media through which it has passed. 
It is only when we place the two accounts side by 
side that we are in a position to estimate their 
respective values, and reproduce the half obliterated 
lines. " The contents of this volume," says Cory, 
in his preface, " are fragments, which have been 
translated from foreign languages into Greek, or 
have been quoted, or transcribed, by Greeks from 
foreign authors ; or, have been written in the Greek 
language by foreigners who have had access to the 
archives of their own countries." 

By way of supplement the original editor had 



EDITORS PREFACE. IX 

added such extracts and fragments as appear to 
have descended from more ancient sources, though 
they are now to be found only in the works of 
Greek and Latin writers. " The classical reader," 
he continues, " will find but poor amusement in 
perusing a half-barbarous dialect, replete with errors 
and inconsistencies ;" I have, therefore, with the 
two-fold object of diminishing the price and of ob- 
taining space for more valuable matter, adopted 
Cory's estimate of the original, and omitted the 
Greek text. By this omission the value of the work 
will not be diminished, the price will be consider- 
ably lower, and, without increasing the size of the 
book, I am able to give valuable elucidations of the 
fragments from the most recent sources of infor- 
mation. Those who desire to consult the originals 
can still do so in Bunsen's Egypt's Place in Uni- 
versal History (vol. I., at the end), or, in M tiller's 
Fragmenta Grceca y 1 there seemed, therefore, no 
reason why I should enhance the price of the book 
by publishing these specimens of " a half-barbarous 
dialect," or take up the reader's time with " errors 
and inconsistencies." I have generally given Cory's 
translation, seldom departing from it except where 
it was manifestly wrong, ambiguous, or ill-arranged. 
Sometimes, to render the book more readable, I 
have thrown two sentences into one ; but in no case 
have I departed from the meaning of the author. 

1 Didot, Paris, 1841. 



X EDITORS PREFACE. 

Where the sense was obscure or incomplete, or a 
name occurred under an unusual form, I have added 
in the text, but within brackets, the word required to 
complete the meaning, or the more usual name of 
the person or place. The purpose for which these 
fragments are here brought together is to enable the 
student of antiquity to bring as it were into one 
focus all the scattered rays of light, and to project 
them, thus concentrated, into the dark cavern of pri- 
meval history. Why then should we render the 
light still more defective by retaining more of its 
smoke than is unavoidable ? In other words, why 
retain unexplained, Greek forms of well-known He- 
brew, Babylonian, or Egyptian names (as our trans- 
lators have done in the New Testament), where we 
meet with Noe for Noah, Elias for Elijah, Jesus for 
Joshua, and Eliseus for the well-known Elisha ? If 
we were translating a German author would it, for 
instance, be tolerated for a moment if we, following 
our author, gave Mailand as the equivalent of 
Milan, called Venice by its German name Venedig, 
or spoke of Geneva as Genff Whenever, therefore, 
I have met with a name which has a well-established 
form in our own language, I have given, together 
with the Greek, the usually-accepted English equi- 
valent, e.g., Nabuchodrosorus, I have called by his 
well-known name of Nebuchadnezzar ; and Ithobalus 
I have called, as in our version of the Bible, Ethbaal. 
It is best not to assume too much knowledge on the 



EDITORS PREFACE. XI 

part of our readers ; it is more prudent to err on the 
side of prolixity than leave them to flounder in the 
mire of uncertainty. Herein I am reminded of a 
circumstance which came under my notice some few 
years back. Dining with a well-known clergyman 
in the west of England on one of his lecture-nights, 
he read to me a portion of the lecture he was that 
night to deliver, in which the name Brittany occurred 
several times, without any indication where it was to 
be sought. I suggested that he should add some 
short parenthetical statement as to its being in France, 
and in what part of that country. My friend did not 
see the necessity of it — he was quite sure that the 
intelligent audience which he was about to address 
knew where Brittany was — in short, they would 
almost feel themselves insulted in being told it was 
in France. I told him I thought differently, and if 
he liked I would put it to the test immediately. 
Would you have the kindness to ask Miss B. — his 
eldest daughter, a young lady of nineteen — to step 
into the study and ask her. If she replies off-hand 
I will yield the point, and assume that all the people 
are as intelligent and well-read in geography as 
Miss B. The reverend gentleman called his daugh- 
ter, and put the question. She appeared much per- 
plexed, and, without attempting a reply, after five 
minutes' consideration withdrew covered with blushes, 
repeating " No ! I don't pa," to the old gentleman's 
evident annoyance. In speaking of Brittany that 



Xll EDITORS PREFACE. 

night the worthy pastor told them to " look for it m 
the map of France." If, therefore, I may seem to 
some critics to have spent too much time in explain- 
ing - what to themselves is sufficiently intelligible, I 
beg they will recollect, that among my readers there 
will be many to whom such matters are not so evi- 
dent ; and that it is for the benefit of plain English 
readers that I explain what seems so very obvious 
to classical scholars. In short, having set aside the 
Greek text as a costly and useless encumbrance, the 
book now addresses itself to the ordinary English 
student, who does not happen to have enjoyed the 
advantages of an early classical training. In carrying 
out my plan I shall explain Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek, 
Phoenician, and Egyptian words wherever they occur, 
and thus endeavour to place the English reader, so 
far as these Fragments are concerned, on a level 
with the best Oriental scholars of our day. I have 
also referred the student to authorised translations 
of cuneiform and hieroglyphic texts, whenever I 
thought that any additional light was thrown by 
them upon the statements contained in these Frag- 
ments. Lastly, it remains only for me to say in this 
place that I have omitted Cory's preface entirely, as 
resting chiefly upon the long-exploded learning of 
Jacob Bryant, Faber, and Parkhurst; and have dis- 
pensed altogether with the Neo-Platonic forgeries 
which Cory had placed at the end, bearing the titles 
respectively of, Oracles of Zoroaster, the Hermetic 



EDITORS PREFACE. Xlll 

Creed, the Orphic, Pythagorean, and other fragments, 
of doubtful authenticity and of little value. We now 
possess, thanks to the labours of MM. Anquetil Du- 
perron, Spiegel, and Haug, all the remains of the 
so-called Zend-Avesta, of which only a small portion 
— the Gathas — are regarded by competent scholars 
as genuine. Comparing these so-called Oracles of 
Zoroaster with the genuine fragments, we have every 
reason to reject them as spurious. Such as they are, 
however, they will be found, translated into English, 
in Stanley's Lives of the Philosophers. I have pre- 
ferred, therefore, in the present edition, to omit this 
farrago of metaphysico-philosophical nonsense, and 
have added several fragments of other ancient authors 
containing matter of greater importance. 

THE EDITOR. 

London, 1876. 



ON" THE 
ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND RESULTS 

OP 

HIEROGLYPHIC AND CUNEIFORM 
DECIPHERMENT. 



Egyptian Hieroglyphics and their Decipherment. 

The foundation of all our knowledge of the monu- 
mental and literary treasures of Ancient Egypt is 
based on the fortunate discovery of the famous 
Rosetta Stone, now treasured up in the British 
Museum. In 1799, we are told by Dr. Birch (Intro- 
duction to the Study of Hieroglyphics), M. Boussard, 
of the French Expedition, discovered near Rosetta, 
a large stone of black granite, commonly known as 
the Rosetta stone, or inscription, which, at the capitu- 
lation of Alexandria, was surrendered to General 
Hutchinson, and presented by King George III. to 
the British Museum. 

" It contained," he continues, " a trigrammatical 
inscription ; one in hieroglyphics, a second in the 
demotic or vernacular, and a third in Greek." From 
the Greek translation it appeared that it was a 
solemn decree of the united priesthood, in synod at 



XV 



Memphis, in honour of Ptolemy V., who had con- 
ferred upon them certain benefits. By the successive 
labours of Dr. Thomas Young, Champollion, Deveria, 
Dr. Birch, Bunsen, Brugsch, Chabas, and other emi- 
nent scholars, the values of the hieroglyphic charac- 
ters have been determined, and the two Egyptian 
texts translated. In 1865 a new bilingual inscription, 
Greek and hieroglyphic, was discovered at San, the 
ancient Zoan or Tanis. This new inscription has 
confirmed the accuracy of our previous researches, 
and adds a considerable amount of new information, 
especially as regards geographical names. 1 Egypto- 
logists are now able to read the important historical 
inscriptions found at Mount Sinai and in all parts 
of the land of Egypt. The literature, historical, 
political, religious, and philosophical, of the ancient 
Egyptians 2 is now spread open before us, and re- 
flects a brilliant light upon the ancient fragments of 
Manetho and other writers contained in this work. 



1 The native name of Phoenicia, so long an insuperable 
difficulty to scholars, appears from this Egyptian text to 
have been Keft — i.e., a palm-tree. See the Hebrew text 
of Isaiah ix. 13, xix. 15, and Job xv. 32. 

2 The most important Egyptian texts, translated by 
competent scholars, are now accessible to English readers 
in vols II., IV., and VI. of Records of the Past. Bagster & 
Sons, London, 1873 — 5- 



XVI 



Ctmeiform Decipherment. 

During the past quarter of a century a new and 
unexpected revelation has come to us from the plains 
of Mesopotamia and the banks of the Tigris. The 
buried cities of Babylon and Nineveh, of Erech, and 
Arbela, have sprung from their long-forgotten graves, 
and yielded to Botta and Layard, Rawlinson and 
Loftus, their ancient records and historic treasures. 
In our early days Nineveh was but a name, and 
Babylon an abstraction : their annals were partially 
recorded in the venerable pages of Holy Writ, and 
we had glimpses of their ancient glories in the his- 
tories and poems of the classic writers ; but their 
sites were unknown, or unidentified, and the wan- 
dering Arab or Eeliyaut pitched his tent and tended 
his flocks among their long-forgotten sepulchres. 

Still, amidst all this ruin and obscurity there existed 
a key to unlock the treasures of the past : the man 
only was wanted who should discover and employ it. 
We purpose, therefore, on the present occasion to 
answer the oft-repeated question, How have we 
attained the power to read and translate the cunei- 
form inscriptions of the Assyrians and Babylonians, 
and what proof can be given of our success therein ? 

The collections of Europe, but, more especially 
those of the Louvre and the British Museum, contain 
innumerable specimens of Assyrian sculpture, and 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XV11 

whole volumes of Assyrian history — history, as 
has been well observed, written " not in books, nor 
on paper, but upon rocks and stones " — cylinders 
of baked clay and burnt bricks. It is, we believe, 
generally known that these inscriptions, so far as they 
relate historical matter, can now be read and trans- 
lated with almost as much ease, and with nearly the 
same accuracy, as a page of Sanskrit or Arabic ; but 
few, we believe, are acquainted with the process by 
which this power has been attained. The readers of 
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society are no doubt 
aware of the painful steps by which this success has 
been achieved ; but the great majority of intellectual 
people — not being members of that learned Society 
— are in the deepest ignorance with reference to this 
interesting question. Rarely have we met with any 
one who had clear and accurate knowledge of the 
origin of cuneiform decipherment, and of the vast 
importance of the results attained. Though always 
taking a deep interest in such discoveries ourselves, 
we confess that, if any one had asked us five or six 
years ago what we knew of the subject, we should 
have been compelled in truth to say, Very little ! 
Our first accurate and connected ideas upon the 
subject were derived from the very valuable work of 
M. Menant, " Les Ecritures Ctcndiformes, Expose des 
travaux qui ont prepare la lecture et rinterpretation 
des inscriptions de la Perse et de V Assyrie" 2nd 
edition, Paris, 1864. 



Xviil CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT, 

When Botta and Layard excavated the mounds of 
Mesopotamia, and brought to light their buried 
treasures to adorn our museums, and throw a gleam 
of light on the sadly blurred and blotted pages of 
antiquity, the nature of the cuneiform characters was 
comparatively unknown. From the days of the British 
Resident at Bagdad, Mr. Rich, and Sir Robert Ker 
Porter, inscriptions in the cuneiform character were 
continually being published and conjecturally in- 
terpreted by charlatans and pretenders ; but no real 
basis was found on which to rear the vast fabric 
which was destined to be built. Grotefend, of 
Gottingen, in the beginning of the present century, 
was the first to lay the foundation-stone of cuneiform 
decipherment. Miinter and Tychsen had previously 
identified the group for " king," and established the 
use of the diagonally-placed wedge as a word-divider. 

A copy of two short inscriptions found at Persepolis, 
was placed before Grotefend, the one of Darius Hys- 
taspes, the other of his son Xerxes. He conjectured 
that, probably, these were inscriptions emanating 
from a Persian monarch of the Achsemenide dynasty, 
or successors of Achaemenes ; he fixed upon a 
certain group of characters, which, from their fre- 
quent recurrence, might contain the name of some 
king of that dynasty. Taking one of these short in- 
scriptions, he tried the names of Xerxes and of Cyrus, 
but without success. He then tried that of Darius, 
and succeeded. By the decipherment of this name 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XIX 

he obtained the values of five or six cuneiform 
characters : he read the name Dara-ya-vush or Darius, 
and his title khshayathiya khshayathiydnam, "king of 
kings, son of Vistaspa," &c, which furnished several 
more phonetic values. Distinguished scholars, such 
as Westergard, and Rask, of Copenhagen, Lassen, 
of Bonn, and Burnouf, of Paris, then took up the 
study on the Continent, while Dr. Hincks and Mr. 
Fox Talbot devoted their attention to the decipher- 
ment of the third kind of inscriptions, the Assyrian. 
Our Universities have produced as yet no cuneiform 
scholars, with the exception of Hincks and Sayce, 
nor can we point out any distinguished clergyman in 
the Church, except Mr. Sayce, 1 who has devoted 
himself to this study. Yet, in spite of much in- 
difference, and not a little determined opposition, 
progress continued to be made. Hitherto only copies 
of the two short inscriptions found at Persepolis, the 
one a decree of Xerxes, the other of Darius, had 
formed the sole materials for study. A longer text 
was then found on the rocks of Elvend, which soon 
attracted the attention of the savants of Europe. 
Burnouf devoted himself to the study of the Persian 
text, and De Saulcy to the Assyrian. Fortunately, 
all these inscriptions emanating from the Persian 
monarchs, are drawn up in three languages, and it is 

1 Since this was written the Rev. J. M. Rodwell has 
translated from the cuneiform text the Annals of Asur- 
nasir-pal, king of Assyria, B.C. 883. 



XX CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

by their aid that we have been able to overcome 
the difficulties, otherwise insuperable, of reading the 
annals of Assyrian and Babylonian kings. The 
brevity of all the trilingual inscriptions hitherto 
known in Europe, however, limited our knowledge 
to but a few cuneiform characters, and to still fewer 
words. The long-desired key was at length found 
in the very long inscription of Darius Hystaspes at 
Behistun, in Persia. 1 We owe the first copy of this 
very valuable document to Sir Henry Rawlinson, 
who, while engaged in official duties as H. M. 
ambassador to the Court of Persia, embraced the 
opportunity afforded hirn by its proximity to Ker- 
manshah to procure a copy of it. The Persian text 
he published with a Latin translation in the Journal 
of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1846, and the 
Assyrian text, with a translation into Latin, in the 
same Journal in 1 85 1. 

Here the scholars of Europe had a text on which 
to exercise their ingenuity, and one worthy of their 
exertions. The Persian text is written with a 
cuneiform alphabet of about 40 characters ; the 
Medo-Scythic and the Assyrian translations of the 
text are written, the former with a syllabarium, and 
the latter in ideograms, and with a syllabarium. This 
inscription, which for ages had attracted the atten- 
tion of travellers going into Media, was ascribed in 

1 See the article, Behistun Inscription, in the English 
Cyclopczdia, Supplement, A rts and Sciences. 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XXI 

the time of Diodorus Siculus to the celebrated queen 
Semiramis. Instead of this, we know now that it is a 
record of the acts and conquests of Darius Hystaspes, 
who there gives his genealogy, and mentions the 
various battles fought by him against the successive 
pretenders to the throne. The tone of piety in which 
it is written, the religious feeling shown throughout 
in the ascription of all his victories to Ormuzd, the 
supreme deity of the Persians, and the love of truth 
there inculcated, render this a very valuable testi- 
mony to the state of religious and moral feeling at 
that remote period. The names and facts recorded, 
also, most surprisingly confirm the statements of the 
Greek authors, Herodotus and Diodorus. 

Interesting as the Behistun Inscription undoubtedly 
is, it becomes still more so as being the starting-point 
of Babylonian and Assyrian decipherment. There 
are more than ninety proper-names in the Assyrian 
text of this inscription ; and, since proper-names are 
not translated, but only transcribed from one language 
into another, it follows, that having by the decom- 
position of these ninety names, obtained a portion 
of the Assyrian syllabary, we were then in a position 
to commence the reading of the remainder of the 
inscription. The Persian text of the Behistun 
Inscription was our first spelling-book, and its 
renderings our first dictionary of the Assyrio-Baby- 
lonian language. But, it maybe asked, How did we 
obtain a key to the Persian text ? It is true that 



XXU CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

Grotefend, Burnouf, Lassen, Oppert, and Hincks 
had laboured with Sir H. Rawlinson at the discovery 
of the phonetic values of the Persian characters ; but 
who gave us the vocabulary ? This also was a work 
of time ; but the publication of the Zend-Avesta by 
Anquetil-Duperron, the study of the Zend, or Old 
Bactrian, and Sanskrit languages, all contributed to 
aid the student in determining the meaning of the 
Persian words. In fact, many of the words are 
identical with the Sanskrit, e.g., putra — a son ; bratar 
— a brother ; bhumi — earth ; baga — a god ; bu — to 
be, to exist ; navi — a ship ; and many others, are 
all unchanged Sanskrit words, while ddam is only a 
harder form of the Sanskrit aham — I. . 

Then, again, the modern Persian was of great assis- 
tance. Darius commences his address with " I am 
Darius, the great king, king of kings," &c. Now 
such words as khshdyathiya and vazraka were easily 
explained from the corresponding Persian words 
shah — a king, buzurg — great; and so of a great 
many others. 

The labours of Sir Henry Rawlinson have been 
carried on and perfected by Spiegel, an eminent 
German savant, and now we find there are not twenty 
words in the whole Persian text of the meaning- 
of which there is any doubt. The A ssyrio- Babylo- 
nian inscription is a tolerably correct translation of 
the Persian text. Having, therefore, obtained the 
values of the Assyrian characters by pulling to pieces, 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XX111 

as it were, the ninety proper-names occurring in the 
Assyrian translation, we were able, by the help of 
the Persian translation, to render, word for word, 
the meaning of the Assyrio- Babylonian text. Dr. 
Hincks afterwards compiled a syllabary, as did also 
Sir H. Rawlinson, and Dr. Oppert. 

An attempt was now made at translating for the 
first time a uni-lingual text — the Standard inscription 
of Sargon from Khorsabad. This was translated 
by Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson, and pub- 
lished in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 
for 1850. At the same time, Sir Henry also 
published, in the same Journal, a translation of the 
inscription on the famous Black Obelisk, recording 
the events of the reign of Shalmaneser II., King 
of Assyria. This venerable monument was brought 
by Mr. Layard from Nimroud, the ancient Calakh, 
and is now in the British Museum. The text of 
these two inscriptions, with many others of even 
greater antiquity, has been published by command 
of the Trustees of the British Museum. 

The learned world still remained incredulous as to 
the accuracy of what had been done, and still, though 
without any sufficient reason, a few persons remain 
so. Professor E. Renan, and some other eminent 
scholars, impugned the accuracy of the translations, 
but it arose from their ignorance of the subject, and 
from their unwillingness to climb the tedious ascent 
which all who pursue cuneiform studies must ascend. 



XXIV CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

The translation of the first four years of the 
annals of Tiglath-Pileser 1st (b. c. iioo) (not the one 
mentioned in the Bible), by the four most eminent 
cuneiform scholars of that day, published in extenso 
in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for i860, 
formed a new era in cuneiform scholarship. Sir 
Henry Rawlinson, Mr. Fox Talbot, Dr. Edward 
Hincks, and Dr. Oppert, of Paris, laboured severally 
on this inscription. Their independent translations 
are printed side by side, and any impartial critic 
may see plainly that on the whole there is a very 
remarkable coincidence in their renderings. To 
use the words of the arbitrators, " That they are all 
agreed, or very nearly so, as to the powers of the 
characters, is established by their concurrent readings 
of proper names, which they almost always express 
in as nearly the same manner as can be expected, 
when we consider the different values attached by 
different persons to the letters of our own alphabet." 
Again, they say, " The agreement as regards the 
letters being established, it follows that significant 
terms will be also similarly read ; and this may be 
assumed to be the case from the frequent corres- 
pondence in the passages of the translations. It may 
be stated generally, that with a few exceptions, the 
main purport of each paragraph agrees." They 
conclude their judgment on the several translations 
as follows : — " Upon the whole, the result of this 
experiment — than which a fairer test could scarcely 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XXV 

be devised — may be considered as establishing, 
almost definitely, the correctness of the valuation of 
the characters of these inscriptions. It is possible 
that further investigations may find something to 
alter, or to add ; but, the great portion, if not the 
whole, may be read with confidence." One would 
have thought that after such a decided expression of 
opinion by the most competent scholars, who con- 
sented to act as arbitrators, that the cavillers would 
have been for ever silenced. But it is not so : there 
are still a few who are utterly incredulous as to the 
certainty, or accuracy, of cuneiform scholarship. 
Fifteen years have elapsed since then, and our 
cuneiform scholars have not been idle : Dr. Oppert 
visited the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, and on his 
return published, at the cost of the French Govern- 
ment, his excellent and learned work, "Expedition en 
Mesopotamie" which contains numerous texts, with 
translations and vocabularies of words. The same 
author has given us the Annals of Sargon (mentioned 
Isaiah xx.), an Early History of Babylon and Assyria, 
and to him belongs the merit of first publishing an 
Assyrian Grammar. Dr. Edwin N orris, late secretary 
of the Royal Asiatic Society, has given to the world 
a translation of the Medo-Scythic text of the Behistun 
Inscription ; and, till his decease, was employed on 
his invaluable Assyrian Dictionary \ three volumes of 
which have long been in the hands of cuneiform 
scholars. Monsieur Joachim Menant has favoured 



XXVI CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

the public with a valuable grammar of the Assyrian 
language in the cuneiform character; Mr. Fox 
Talbot has introduced many admirable translations 
of cuneiform inscriptions, and is now engaged in the 
preparation of a very useful Glossary of Assyrio- 
Babylonian words ; while Mr. George Smith, of the 
British Museum, is deserving of all praise for his very 
valuable work, entitled the " Annals of Asurbaniftal, 
son of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria" with text and 
translation ; his complete List of Assyrian Characters 
and Ideograms ; and lastly, for his admirable sketch 
of Early Babylonian History, published in the first 
vol. of the Transactions of the Society of Biblical 
Archaeolgy, and reprinted, with additions, in vol. iii. 
of Records of the Past. So far we have traced the 
origin and progress of Cuneiform decipherment. We 
have now briefly to speak of the results attained, or 
yet to be obtained, by the pursuit of this study. 

First. We have established the important fact that 
the Assyrians were a Semitic people, and spoke a 
language akin to Hebrew and Arabic. 

Secondly. We learn of the existence, in pre- 
historic times, of a great Turanian civilisation in 
the plains of Mesopotamia. We learn the sur- 
prising fact that, at a remote period, a people 
allied to the Finns and Laplanders, and speaking 
a dialect of the great Tartar family, founded the 
cities of central Asia, invented the most com- 
plex system of writing that human ingenuity ever 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XXV11 

devised, and laid the foundation of a civilisation 
which lasted with few radical changes down to the 
time of Alexander the Great. Some of their cities 
are mentioned in Holy Scripture, as Erech and 
Accad in the land of Shinar ; and this primitive 
people is often mentioned in the inscriptions of 
the Assyrian kings, and called Akkadi, or Akkads. 1 
We possess numerous specimens of their literature in 
the British Museum, and we find that they were a 
highly civilized race, who have left us historical 
annals, scientific treatises, liturgies, and mythological 
tracts. Their language not only permeated the 
Assyrian, but even reached the Hebrew, in which 
are found several Akkad words, such as yam — sea, 
hekal — a temple, fr — a city, and many others. The 
Akkads were the instructors of the Assyrians in 
literature and science, and from them the Assyrians 
adopted the arrow-headed, or wedge-shaped system 
of writing, which we call cuneiform. 

Thirdly. We have learned by the decipherment 
of the Assyrian inscriptions, the origin of that re- 
markable Hebrew word Wfo (ASHTE), which 
has been the crux of Hebrew scholars. Joined to 
the word *Kp# it denotes eleven. Winer, an eminent 
Hebrew scholar, thought that "having counted ten 

1 See the article Chaldee Language, in the English Cyclo- 
pcedia, Supplement, Arts and Sciences ; also, M. Francois 
Lenormant's learned work, Etudes Acadiennes, Paris, 1873. 



XXV111 CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

upon their fingers, ash-tay-asar must mean some- 
thing kept in mind over and above the ten, and hence 
eleven." Gesenius, the prince of Hebrew scholars, 
commenting on this conjecture of Winer's, cries out 
in despair, "By Hercules it is not probable, but 
I can offer nothing more satisfactory." Had Gesenius 
lived to our times he would have recognised this 
strange word in the Assyrian ishtin — one ; the 
Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac being respectively 
akhad, wahaad, and ekhdo. 

Fourthly. We read in the annals of the Assyrian 
kings of their wars and conquests — what countries 
they subdued, what peoples they carried away 
into captivity, and with what kings they made cove- 
nants and alliance. To every lover of the Bible 
it must be a source of great satisfaction to find 
mention made in the Assyrian inscriptions of Tyre 
and Sidon, and Jerusalem and Gaza, and Samaria 
(sometimes called Omri). And not only names of 
Biblical places, but of Biblical persons are to be 
found there ; as Hezekiah and Jehoahaz, Ahab 
and Jehu, and Hazael, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, 
and Nebuchadnezzar. Under this head of scrip- 
tural illustration will come the deeply interesting 
fact, that we now obtain evidence of the true pro- 
nunciation of the sacred and incommunicable name 
of God. It is, we believe, generally admitted 
among Hebrew scholars, that the name Jehovah, as 
the designation of the supreme God, is incorrect. 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XXIX 

The Jews never pronounce this name. 1 You never 
meet with it in the New Testament ; showing that 
even at that time either the true pronunciation was 
lost, or it was considered unlawful to pronounce it, 
which is the statement of Philo Judaeus, confirmed by 
Josephus. Some Hebraists contend for Yahveh as 
the correct pronunciation, but with little proof. We 
learn, however, from an Assyrian inscription of 
Sargon's that the correct pronunciation of the most 
sacred name of God amongst the Semitic people 
was Ya-u, or Yahu. In the Cyprus Inscription of 
Sargon we read of a certain Ya-hu-bldi, king of 
Hamath. Now as this king's name is preceded by 
the sign indicating a god, it is evident that his name 
is a compound of some divine name, such as Yahu's 
servant, in which it resembles the Hebrew name 
Jehoahaz, more correctly Yeho-ahaz — " one who 
holds to Yeho," or Jehovah. In the book of Psalms, 
too, we are told to praise God by his name Yah, 
which is an abbreviated form of Yahu. 

Lastly. That this was the most sacred name of God 
as taught in the mysteries we learn from Macrobius 
and Plutarch. We may assume, therefore, from the 
very accurate mode of Assyrian vocalization, that we 
have here the correct pronunciation of a Semitic 



1 See on this point the excellent observations of Dr. 
Ginsburg, in pp. 22 and 23 of The Moabite Stone, 4to, 
Reeves & Turner, 2nd edition, 1871. 



XXX CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. 

name as found in an Assyrian inscription, and that 
Ya-hu, or Ya-ho, and not Jehovah, is the correct 
pronunciation of what has been called " the ineffable 
name" of the Most High. 

Time would fail to point out the many points of 
interest of a historical, philological, and chrono- 
logical character upon which Assyrian literature 
throws a flood of light. We are yet upon the 
threshold of the temple of truth ; we have not 
penetrated into its adytum. The library of Ashur- 
banipal is not yet all published, and there are 
doubtless thousands of deeply interesting inscriptions 
of great antiquity still lying buried under the mounds 
of Mesopotamia. These have yet to be exhumed 
and brought to light, and we trust that our Govern- 
ment will resume the excavations of Botta and 
Layard, send out competent scholars 1 to explore 
the ancient ruins, copy and translate inscriptions, 
and rescue from oblivion the stores of valuable 
information contained there. We have many in- 
scriptions of Nebuchadnezzar's, but all we possess, 
at present, merely refer to his restorations and 
improvements of the city of Babylon. We want the 
account of his conquests, particularly that of his 

1 The proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, with great 
public spirit, have since commissioned Mr. George Smith 
to go to Assyria. Mr. Smith has subsequently undertaken 
further researches (in a second journey) at Mosul, for the 
Trustees of the British Museum. 



CUNEIFORM DECIPHERMENT. XXXI 

capture of Jerusalem, and transportation of the Jews, 
and there is no doubt that such inscriptions exist, 
and, with many similar records of other kings, are 
worthy of our earnest search. Let not those relics 
of a past age lie mouldering in their graves. Let 
England's sons, who prize and love the Bible, exert 
themselves, and show a deep and sincere interest in 
excavations and discoveries which throw light on its 
sacred pages, and confirm its hallowed truths. 



XXX11 PHOENICIAN LITERATURE. 



SANCHONIATHON. 



Phoenician literature has perished, leaving barely 
the traces of its former existence. That the 
Phoenicians, however, at a very early period were 
a literary people, who spoke a language almost 
identical with the Hebrew 1 we have Biblical evidence, 
even if it rested on the single fact, that the city 
subsequently called Debir, was originally called, 
during the Canaanite or Phoenician occupation, 
before Joshua's conquest of the land, by the name 
of Kiryath-Sepher, or Book-town. We know also, 
from other sources, that Phoenician merchants were 
often philosophers, Carthaginian generals, and states- 
men, literary men, and that Numidian kings, who 
had received a Phoenician education and training, 
possessed libraries of Phoenician' works ; or, as Juba 
and Hiempsal, were themselves authors. 

The Phoenicians, like most Semitic nations, — the 
Jews for instance — had a very ancient historical 



1 See the Article Phcznician Language and Inscriptions, 
in the English Cyclopcedia (Arts and Sciences Supplement). 



PHOENICIAN LITERATURE. XXX11I 

literature, no doubt originating with the inscriptions, 
which, in order to perpetuate the memory of past 
events were preserved in their temples, and when 
the Semitic world became better known to the 
Greeks, historical works of Phoenician origin are 
mentioned in a general way, and, in some cases, 
the supposed authors of them are designated. 
Among them we meet with three names, Mochus, 
Hypsikrates, and Theodotus, whose works are said 
to have been by one Chaitus translated into Greek. 
The work of Mochus, of which several Greek edi- 
tions existed, began with the Cosmogony, and after 
the time of Eudemus is often quoted. Of the other 
two, little is known except that Hypsikrates is sup- 
posed by some to be the same as our author 
Sanchoniathon ; an hypothesis grounded upon the 
circumstance that Hypsikrates in Greek signifies the 
same as Sanchoniathon in Phoenician, which Movers 
interprets frCfifi DD, SAM-ME-KUNATHO = the 
height {i.e., heaven) is his throne. In the same man- 
ner, Theodotus may be the Greek rendering of the 
common Phoenician name J^OT, BAAL-YITTEN, 
i.e., Baal gives. Numerous Greek rechauffe's of his- 
torical works, originally composed in the Phoenician 
language, are also known to us, bearing the names of 
Asclepiades, Chaitus, Claudius, Julius, Dius, Hierony- 
mus the Egyptian, Histiaeus, Menanderof Pergamus, 
Menander of Ephesus, Philistus, Posidonius, Philos- 
tratus, and Teucer of Cyzicus ; while we have it on 



XXXIV PHCENICIAN LITERATURE. 

record, that Hiempsal, King of Numidia, wrote a 
history of Libya, which is quoted by Sallust. Mago, 
the famous Carthaginian general, wrote twenty-eight 
books on agriculture, which Dionysius of Utica ren- 
dered into Greek, and Silanus, by command of the 
Roman senate, translated into Latin. As regards 
Sanchoniathon, the author of the following fragments, 
almost nothing is known. He is mentioned by 
Athenaeus (lib. iii. cap. 37), Porphyry, the great 
opponent of Christianity (De Abstinentia, lib. ii. sec. 
56), Theodoret (De Cur. Grcec. Affect., serm. ii.), by 
Suidas, who calls him a" Tyrian philosopher ;" and, by 
Eusebius (De Prceparatione Evangelica, lib. ii. c. 11). 
For the fragments of his work which have escaped 
the shipwreck of time, we are principally indebted 
to Eusebius and his opponent Porphyry. All has 
perished except those quotations, made for polemical 
purposes, by the writers above named. From their 
pages they have been again extracted, put together, 
and are here placed before 'the reader for his exami- 
nation. Owing to the entire loss of Sanchoniathon's 
original, we are indebted for what we know of his 
work to a translation into Greek made by a certain 
Philo (b.c. 100) of Byblus, a coast town of Phoenicia. 1 
But we must not withhold from our readers that the 

1 Byblus, the Gebal of the Hebrew Scriptures, is the pre- 
sent Jebail, situated on the sea coast between Beyrout and 
Tripoli. 



PHCENICIAN LITERATURE. XXXV 

loss of the original, together with the fragmentary 
character of what remains to us of Philo's translation, 
diminish not a little from its value. Hence many- 
have denied the genuineness of these fragments alto- 
gether, among whom we may mention Ursinus, 
Dodwell, Van Dale, Meiners, Hissman, and Lobeck. 
Others, as Grotius, Goguet, Mignot, Ewald, and the 
late Baron Bunsen, have considered these fragments 
as genuine, and regard the substance of them as 
really Phoenician, and therefore of the highest im- 
portance. Those who desire to see what has been 
advanced in their favour may consult with advantage 
the Introduction to Goguet's Esprit de Lois, Spiegel's 
article, " Sanchoniathon," in Hertzog's Real Encyclo- 
padie, and especially an able article by Prof. Renan, 
on the Sources of Sanchoniathon s history, entitled 
" Mdmoire szcr I'origine et le charactere veritable de 
I'histoire Phoenicienne qui porte le nom de Sanchonia- 
thon'' in the " Mdmoires de V Acaddmie des Inscrip- 
tions',' Paris, i860. 1 Having thus pointed out the 
sources of further information regarding the work of 
Sanchoniathon, and its historical value, we consider 
our task will be completed by presenting the frag- 
ments to the reader, with such elucidations of the 



1 On the opposite side the reader may consult with ad- 
vantage Mover's, Die Unechtheit der in Eusebius erhaltenen 
Fragmente des Sanchoniathon bewiesen. Jahrbuch fur Kath, 
Theologie. 



XXXVI PHOENICIAN LITERATURE. 

Phoenician and Greek words as occur therein ; and 
then, leaving the student to form his own judgment, 
as to their genuineness and importance. Volumes 
might be written on either side ; and, knowing the 
weight of argument to be pretty evenly balanced, we 
prefer to take no side, but allow the student, un- 
biassed by any opinion of our own, to judge for 
himself. 



SANCHONIATHON. 



Extracted from Eusebius' Pr^eparatio 
evangelica. 1 book i., chap. 6. 

" Now these things a certain Sanchoniathon has 
handed down to posterity, a very ancient author 
whom they testify flourished before the Trojan war, 
and who, commended both for his industry and fide- 
lity, wrote the History of the Phoenicians. All the 
writings of this author, Philo, not the Jew of that 
name, but of Byblus, having translated out of the 
Phoenician, published in the Greek language. 

He supposes that the beginning of all things was 
a dark and condensed windy air, or a breeze of dark 



1 Eusebius (surnamed Pamphilus), born A.D. 264, was a 
native of Palestine. Being elevated to the see of Csesarea, 
he died about 338; He was a voluminous writer, and among 
his other works he composed the Prcsparatio Evangelica, in 
nine volumes, which he dedicated to Theodotus, Bishop of 
Laodicea. This famous work, upon which his renown 
chiefly rests, contains fragments of Sanchoniathon, Berosus, 
and others whose works have since entirely perished. 

B 



2 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

air, and a chaos turbid and black as Erebus ; x and 
that these were unbounded, and for a long series of 
ages destitute of form [or limit]. 2 But when this wind 
became enamoured of its own first principles (the 
chaos), and an intimate union took place, that con- 
nexion was called Pothos ; 3 and it was the begin- 
ning of the creation of all things. And it (the Chaos) 
knew not its own production ; but, from its embrace 4 
with the wind, was generated Mot, which some called 
Ilus (mud) ; but others the putrefaction of a watery 
mixture. And from this sprung all the seed of the 
creation, and the generation of the universe. And 
there were certain animals, not having sensation, 
from which intelligent animals were produced ; 
and they were called Zophasemim, [D^ErtEn ^BXS, 

1 " From Chaos Erebus and ebon Night : 

From Night the Day sprang forth, and shining air, 
Whom to the love of Erebus she gave." 

Hesiod's Theogony (Elton's Translation), line 170. 

2 Gen. i. 2, where 2"^ ('erev), denotes mixture, twilight, 
and hence evening. ■ " The earth was without form, and 
void." — Gen. i. 1. 

3 Pothos or Desire. This seems to be the same as Epws, or 
Cupid, who was held by the Greek mythologists to be the prime 
cause of all things. — 'See Hesiod's Theogony, v. 120, and 
Wolff's note upon it. 

4 This union was symbolized among the heathen, and 
particularly by the Phoenicians, by an egg enfolded by a 
serpent, which disjunctively represented the Chaos and the 
./Ether ; but, when united the hermaphroditic first principle 
of the universe, i.e. Cupid, or Pothos. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 3 

Tsophe hashshamayim], i.e., observers of heaven, and 
they were formed similar to the shape of an egg. 
And Mot shone out with the sun, and the moon, and 
the less and the greater stars. " Such (adds Euse- 
bius), " is their Cosmogony, directly bringing in Athe- 
ism. Bttt let us see in continication how he states the 
origin of the animal creation. He says then, ' And 
when the air began to send forth light, by its fiery 
influence on the sea and earth, winds were produced, 
and clouds, and very great defluxions and outpour- 
ings of the heavenly waters. And after that these 
things were divided and separated from their proper 
place by the heat of the sun, and then all met again 
in the air, and dashed together, whence thunders and 
lightnings were formed ; and at the crash of those 
thunders the above-named intelligent animals were 
awakened and frightened with the sound ; and then 
male and female moved on the earth and in the sea. 
This (says Eusebius) is their generation of animals. 
After this our author (Sanchoniathon)/n?£m& to say, 
1 These things are written in the Cosmogony of 
Taautus (Thoth), 1 and in his memoirs, and from the 

1 Thoth was an Egyptian deity of the second order, 
whose attributes are not well known. The Graeco-Roman 
mythology identified him with Hermes, or Mercury. His 
sign is the Ibis, and he is the most important, according to 
Bunsen, of all the Cabiri. He was reputed to be the inven- 
tor of writing, the patron deity of learning, the scribe of the 
gods, in which capacity he is represented signing the sen- 
tences on the souls of the dead. 



4 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

conjectures and evidences which his mind saw and 
found out, and wherewith he hath enlightened us. 
Afterwards (says Eusebius) declaring the names of 
the winds, Notus, Boreas and the rest, he makes this 
epilogiLe : ' But these first men consecrated the pro- 
ductions of the earth, and judged them gods, and 
worshipped those things upon which they themselves 
lived, and all their posterity and all before them : to 
these they made libations (or drink-offerings), and 
sacrifices.' Then he proceeds, 'These were the devices 
of worship suited to the weakness and want of bold- 
ness of their minds {or narrowness of their souls).— 
Euseb. Prcep. Evan., lib. i. cap. 10. 

Then he says, ' Of the wind Kolpia 1 and of his wife, 
Baau, which is interpreted Night, were begotten two 
mortal men, Aeon 3 and Protogonus so called, and 
Aeon discovered food from trees. Those begotten 
from these were called Genos and Genea, and inha- 
bited Phoenicia, and when great droughts came {ttpon 

1 Hebrew IT ^S Tip, Kol-pi-YAH, i.e., the voice of the 
mouth of Yah, or Jehovah. 

2 Orelli, the latest editor of these fragments, thinks we 
should read Baaut, and that the t has been omitted by 
error of the copyists. BAAUT, he thinks, might be the 
Phoenician word for night, since in Chaldee JTVQ (booth), 
means to pass the night, as in Dan. vi. 19. (v. 18 Eng. Ver.) 

3 Aeon is taken by Orelli for Eve. Heb. TVitl (khavah) ; 
and Protogonus (first-born) for Adam ; while Genos he 
supposes to be Cain, and Genea his wife. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 5 

the land) they stretched forth their hands to heaven, 
towards the Sun, for this (he says), they supposed to 
be the only God, the Lord of Heaven, calling him 
Beelsamin, which name among the Phoenicians sig- 
nifies Lord of Heaven, but among the Greeks is 
equivalent to Zeus, or Jupiter. 

After these things he charges the Greeks with error, 
saying, l For we {the Phoenicians), not vainly, have 
frequently distinguished those names, but with re- 
spect to the later signification of names accruing to 
them from later things, the Greeks, not knowing, 
have construed .otherwise, being led astray by the 
ambiguity of their signification. Then he proceeds, 
' By Genos 1 the son of Aeon and Protogonos were 
again begotten mortal children, whose names were 
Phos, Pur, and Phlox (i.e. Light, Fire, and Flame). 
These found out the method of generating fire by 
rubbing together pieces of wood, and taught men the 
use of it {i.e., fire). These begat sons of vast bulk 
and height, whose names were given to the moun- 
tains which they occupied. Thus, from them were 
called Mount Cassius, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, 
and Brathu. 2 ' Of these men, he says, were begotten 

1 i.e., Cain, as Orelli supposes. His reading is, " From 
the race of Aeon," &c. 

2 Orelli says he has sought in vain for this mountain in the 
ancient geographers ; but thinks it may have been the name 
of some mountain in Syria, or Arabia Deserta, where was a 
city mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Berathena. 



6 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

{through intercourse), with their mothers, Memrumus 
and Hypsuranius; 1 the women of those times without 
shame having intercourse with any man they might 
chance to meet. 2 Then, says he, Hypsuranius dwelt 
in Tyre, and he invented huts constructed of reeds 
and rushes, and {found out the ttse of) papyrus. 
And he fell into enmity with his brother Usous, who 
first invented a covering for the body, of the skins of 
the wild beasts which he could catch. 3 And, when 
violent tempests of winds and rains came, the boughs 
of the trees in Tyre being rubbed against each other 
took fire, and burnt the wood there. And Usous 
having taken a tree, and lopped off its boughs, was 
the first man who dared to venture upon it on the 



1 These two names Bochart takes to be the designation 
of one person. Scaliger agrees with him, taking Mem- 
roumous to be from D^EfHftft, MIMMEROMIM ; whence, 
says Orelli, " the word 'Yi/foupavios, Hypsoranius, is only 
the Greek rendering of these two Phoenician words." 

2 " Who does not recognise," says Orelli in his note on 
this passage, " in these words the Mosaic tradition about 
the Nephilim (or giants), begotten from the intercourse of 
the sons of God with the daughters of men ? " — See 
Genesis vi. i, 2. 

3 Scaliger supposed here some reference to the hairy 
Esau. Orelli, following Bishop Cumberland, thinks that 
such a reference is quite inadmissible, and that we should 
rather understand some antediluvian descendant of Cain, 
named Uz, who gave his name to a part of Syria. — See 
Genesis x. 23. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 7 

sea. And he consecrated two stelae, or pillars, to 
Fire and Wind j 1 and he worshipped them, and 
poured out to them 2 the blood of those wild beasts 
he had taken in the chase. And when all these men 
were dead, those that remained consecrated to them 
staves of wood, and worshipped stelae, or pillars, and 
celebrated feasts in honour of them every year. And 
in times long after these, were born of the race of 
Hypsuranius, 3 Agreus and Halieus {i.e. Hunter and 
Fisherman), the inventors of the arts of hunting and 
fishing, from whom hunters and fishermen are named. 4 
Of these were begotten two brothers, the inventors 
of iron and the manifold uses of it. One of these, 
called Chrysor (whom he says is Vulcan), exercised 



1 The atmosphere and winds, we are told by Julius 
Firmicus, received divine honours from the Assyrians and 
people on the shores of Africa, while fire was equally 
venerated in all the colonies of the Phoenicians, especially 
in the temple of the Tyrian Hercules at Cadiz (Gades), to 
extinguish the perpetual fire in which was punished with 
death. — See Creuzer's Symbolik and Miinter, Religion der 
Karthager, 49, 61. Orelli's note, in he. 

2 i.e., the pillars, as representing the mysterious agency 
of wind and fire. 

3 i.e., 'Elion, or the Most High. 

4 On this passage Orelli says : " These are Greek render- 
ings of Syrophcenician names. In Hebrew it would read 
thus : ' And 'Elion begat Said and Sidon, whence the 
Sidones and Sidonians are named ; ' for TC£ (Tsood) 
means both to hunt and to fish." 



5 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

himself in words and charms, and divinations ; and 
he invented the hook, bait, and fishing-line, and 
coracles, or light fishing boats ; and he was the first 
of men who sailed {i.e., who applied sails to the pro- 
pelling of ships). Wherefore men worshipped him 
after his death as a God, and they called him 
Diamichius, 1 i.e., the great inventor; and some say 
his brothers invented the making of walls with bricks. 
After these things, of his race were born two young 
men, one of whom was called Technites, i.e., the 
Artist ; the other, Geinos Autochthon, 2 i.e. earth- 
born, or generated from the earth itself. These men 
found out how to mix stubble with the brick-earth, 
and to dry the bricks so made in the sun : they were 
also the inventors of tiling. By these were begotten 
others, of whom one was called Agrus (Field), the 



1 This, as Cumberland remarks, is the first instance of 
deification. To Chrysor, says Orelli, " the Phoenicians 
seem to have attributed all those arts which the Greeks 
referred to the three gods, Vulcan, Mercury, and Apollo. 
Chrysor may be, as Cumberland supposed, from the Hebrew 
yy~l (kharats), which has the meaning of sharpening, 
cutting, etc. In Assyrian it means gold. 

2 As Adam may have been designated before by the 
name of Protogonus, so here, under the name of Geinos 
Autochthon, Orelli supposes to be meant the first man who 
settled down and lived in a house constructed of sun-dried 
bricks, in contrast with the nomades and dwellers in huts 
built of rushes and reeds. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. Q 

other Agroueros, or Agrotes 1 (Husbandman), who 
had a wooden statue that was much venerated, and 
a shrine (or portable temple), 2 drawn about in Phoe- 
nicia by yokes of oxen. And in books (or, at Byblus), 
he is called distinctly The greatest of the Gods. These 
added to the houses courts, and porticos, and crypts. 
Husbandmen, and such as hunt with dogs, derive 
their origin from these ; they are called also Aletse, 
and Titans. From these were descended Amynus 
and Magus, who taught men to construct villages 
and tend flocks. By these men were begotten Misor 
and Sydyk, that is, Wellfreed and J test: and they 
found out the use of salt. From Misor 3 descended 
Taautus, who invented the writing of the first letters : 
the Egyptians called him Thoor, the Alexandrians 

1 Philo is here quite in error, says Scaliger, for instead of 
TVW, SADEH, a field, he should have read Shaddai, ^TO?* 
Almighty. Philo, or rather Sanchoniathon, is speaking of 
gods like Pan, Pales, or Sylvanus, agricultural and pas- 
toral deities ; but he confounds one of them with the 
greatest god of the people of Byblos, the Shaddai of the 
Jews. 

2 Like the ark of the covenant among the Jews. — See 
2 Samuel vi. 3, and compare with Amos v. 26 and 
Acts vii. 43. 

3 Misor, no doubt, indicates the establisher of Govern- 
ment in Egypt, for Mitzraim (in which name we recognise 
the Hebrew dual number for the Upper and Lower 
country) is the usual word for Egypt in the Hebrew 
Scriptures ; still called MlSR in Arabic. 



IO CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

Thoyth, and the Greeks Hermes. But from Sydyk 1 
descended the Dioscuri or Cabiri, or Corybantes, or 
Samothracian deities. These (he says), first invented 
a ship. From these descended others who were the 
discoverers of medicinal herbs, and of the cure of 
poisons, and of charms. Contemporary with these 
was one Elioun, 2 called Hypsistus {i.e. the most high) ; 
and his wife named Beruth, 3 and they dwelt about 
Byblus [the Hebrew Gebal]. By these was begotten 
Epigeus, or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called 
Ouranos {i.e. Heaven) ; so that from him that ele- 
ment which is • over us, by reason of its excellent 
beauty, is named heaven. And he had a sister of 
the same parents, and she was called Ge (i.e., Earth), 
and by reason of her beauty the earth was called by 
the same name. The father of these, Hypsistus, 
[or ELIOUN], having been killed through an en- 



1 Sydyk. Hebrew p^TS (Tsadik), means the righteous 
one. Wagner thinks by this name is designated not any 
man, but the institution of law and civil government. 

2 El 'Elyon is the title given to the god of Melchizedek, 
King of Salem, who is called priest of El 'Elyon, which 
our version renders priest of the Most High God. 

3 Perhaps Berith, which in Hebrew signifies a covenant 
or engagement, whence a Phoenician deity was called Baal- 
Berith, like the Zeus Orkios of the Greeks, and the Deus 
Fidius of the Romans. This legend of El 'Elyon and 
Berith (covenant), seems to me an obscure allusion to what 
is related in Genesis xiv. 18 — 24. 



CORY'S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I I 

counter with wild beasts, was consecrated [i.e. deified], 
and his children offered libations and sacrifices to 
him. But Ouranos succeeding to the kingdom of 
his father, contracted marriage with his sister Ge 
(the Earth), and had by her four sons, Ilus who is 
called Kronus, 1 and Betylus, and Dagon, which sig- 
nifies Siton (corn), and Atlas. But, by other wives, 
Ouranos had much issue ; at which Ge being vexed 
and jealous, reproached Ouranos, so that they parted 
from each other. But Ouranos, though separated 
from her, still by force came, and had intercourse 
with her, whenever he pleased, and then went home 
again. But, when he also attempted to kill the 
children he had by her, Ge also often defended, or 
avenged herself, gathering unto her auxiliary powers. 
But when Kronus came to man's estate, by the 
advice and assistance of Hermes Trismegistus, 2 who 
was his secretary, he opposed his father Ouranos, 
avenging his mother. And Kronus had children, 
Persephone, 3 and Athena [Minerva] ; the former died 
a virgin ; but, by the advice of Athene and Hermes 
[i.e. Mercury] Kronus made of iron a scimitar, and 
a spear. Then Hermes [or Thoth^\ addressing the 
allies of Kronus with magic words, wrought in them 



1 Kronus answers to the Saturn of the Romans. 

2 Or, Thoth, i.e., the thrice great Hermes. 

3 Proserpine. 



12 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

a keen desire to fight against Ouranos 1 in behalf of 
Ge. And thus Kronus, overcoming Ouranos in bat- 
tle, drove him from his kingdom, and succeeded him 
in the imperial power. In the battle was taken a 
well-beloved concubine of Ouranos, who was preg- 
nant ; Kronus gave her in marriage to Dagon, 2 and 
she was delivered, and called the child Demaroon. 
After these events Kronus builds a wall round about 
his habitation, and founds Byblus, 3 the first city in 
Phoenicia. Afterwards Kronus, suspecting his own 
brother Atlas, by the advice of Hermes [or Thoth], 
threw him into a deep cavern in the earth, and buried 
him. At this time the descendants of the Dioscuri, 
having built some light, and other more complete, 
ships, put to sea, and being out over against Mount 
Cassius, there consecrated a temple. But the auxili- 



1 i.e., Heaven. 

2 Dagon is represented in i Samuel v. 4, as an idol of 
the Philistines, with fish's tail ; but in Genesis xxvii. 28, 
nearly the same word means corn — the one being Dagon, 
the other dagan []^]. 

3 Byblus, the modern Jebail, is here represented as the 
most ancient city of the Canaanites. It was celebrated 
for the worship of Tammuz, or Adonis ; who, in the 
same manner as Elioun, is said to have been slain in an 
encounter with wild beasts. The mysterious rites of this 
worship even infected the Jews. (See Ezekiel viii. 14.) 
Byblus was famous for its celebration of the mysteries of 
Adonis, which even passed to Athens. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 3 

aries of Ilus, (who is Kronus), were called Elohim, 1 
(as it were) the allies of Kronus ; they were so 
called after Kronus [IL or EL]. And Kronus, 
having a son called Sadidus, dispatched him with his 
own sword, because he held him in suspicion ; and 
with his own hand deprived his son of life. And 
in like manner he cut off the head of his own 
daughter, so that all the gods were amazed at the 
mind of Kronus. But, in process of time, Ouranos, 
being in banishment, sent his daughter Astarte, 
with two other sisters, Rhea and Dione, to cut off 
Kronus by deceit ; but Kronus took the damsels, 
and married them, being his own sisters. Ouranos 
understanding this, sent Eimarmene and Hora, 
with other auxiliaries, to make war against him : but 
Kronus gained the affections of these also, and kept 
them with himself. Moreover, the god Ouranos 
devised Baetulia, contriving stones that moved as 
having life. 2 And to Kronus was born by Astarte 



1 Elohim is the plural of Eloah=:god. This plural, 
(which some regard as a pluralis excellentise), is the word 
constantly used in the Hebrew Scriptures for God. Some, 
on the other hand, have hence inferred the original poly- 
theism of the Jews. 

2 Baetulia. Instead of \i9ovs e/Ai/a^ous, i.e., animated 
stones, as Philo has rendered it, we may, I think, with 
Orelli, believe that Sanchoniathon had written D^StW D^IN 
(avanim neshaphim), anointed stones, from the root ?)W 
(SIIOOPH), used in Syriac (2 Samuel xii. 20, and xiv. 2) in 



14 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

seven daughters, called Titanides, or Artemides ; and 
again to him were born by Rhea seven sons, the 
youngest of whom was consecrated from his birth ; 
also by Dione he had daughters, and by Astarte 
again two sons, Pothos, [or Desire], and Eros [or 
Cupid]. And Dagon after he had found out bread- 
corn and the plough, was called Jupiter Arotrius {i.e., 
the ft tougher). To Sydyk, called the Just, one of the 
Titanides, [or daughters of Titan by Astarte], bare 
Asclepius (sEsculaftms, god of 'medicine.) To Kronus, 
also, three sons were born in Persea, (a district of 
Syria east of the river for dan?) viz., Kronus, of the 
same name with his father, Jupiter-Belus and Apollo. 

the sense of anointing. Philo, by transposing the letters 
D and ttf, has completely altered the meaning of the author 
he undertakes to translate, and rendered him ridiculous. 
By this transposition the stones which Jacob set up at 
Bethel for a pillow, and which subsequently, when 
anointed, he consecrated to God (as we read, Genesis 
xxviii. 1 8), have become in Philo's translation animated 
instead of anointed stones. Such stones, called Baitylia, 
of a spherical form, were consecrated, we are told by 
Nicolaus of Damascus, to various gods. We are, however, 
to understand in this passage of Sanchoniathon, according 
to Orelli, either aerolites, or more probably, as he thinks, 
stones which, by a superstitious notion of the ancients, 
were supposed to contain some divine or spiritual essence, 
such as the Pessinuntian stone sent by Attalus, King of 
Phrygia, to the Romans, in which Cybele, " the mother of 
the gods," was believed to lie concealed. See Livy's 
Roman History, Book xxix. n and xiv., and Arnobius, 
advers. Gentes, Book vii. chap. 46. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 5 

Contemporary with these were Pontus and Typhon ; 
and Nereus, the father of Pontus. From Pontus 
descended Sidon, who by the excellence of her sing- 
ing first invented the hymns of odes or praises ; and 
Poseidon [i.e. Neptune]. But to Demaroon was born 
Melicarthus, who is also called Heracles [Hercules]. 
Afterwards Ouranos again makes war against Pontus, 
but parting from him attaches himself to Demaroon. 
Demaroon attacks Pontus ; but Pontus puts him to 
flight, and Demaroon vows a sacrifice, for his escape. 
In the thirty-second year of his power and reign, 
Ilus, who is Kronus, having laid an ambuscade for 
his father Ouranos in a certain place in the middle 
of the earth, and having gotten him into his hands, 
cuts off his private parts near fountains and rivers. 
There Ouranos was consecrated, 1 and his spirit was 
separated, and the blood of his private parts dropped 
into the fountains and the waters of the rivers ; and 
the place is shewn even to this day. Then 02tr author, 
after mentioning some other matters, proceeds thus : 
' But Astarte, called the greatest, and Demaroon en- 
titled Zeus, (Jupiter), and Adodus named the " king 
of the gods," reigned over the country by the consent 
of Kronus. And Astarte put upon her head, 2 as a 

1 i.e., deified. 

2 Whence in Bashan a city sacred to Astarte was called 
(Gen. xiv. 5) Ashteroth-Karnaim ; i.e., Astarte with the 
two horns, or, the crescent moon. 



1 6 cory's ancient fragments. 

mark of sovereignty, a bull's head ; and when she 
was travelling about the habitable world, she found a 
star falling through the air, which she took up and 
consecrated in the holy island of Tyre ; x and the 
Phoenicians say that Astarte is Aphrodite [or Venus]. 
And Kronus also going about the habitable world, 
gave to his daughter Athena [or Minerva], the king- 
dom of Attica : and when a plague and mortality 
happened, Kronus offered up his only son as a sacri- 
fice to his father Ouranos, and circumcised himself, 



1 Tyre was regarded as a holy city. In support of this 
we have the testimony of Arrian, who says, in his Expe- 
dition of Alexander the Great : " There was in that city 
(Tyre), a temple dedicated to Hercules (Melkarth), the most 
ancient of all those recorded in history. This is not the 
Grecian Hercules, for he was the son of Alcmena. But 
this Hercules, (Baal or Melkarth), was worshipped at Tyre 
many ages before Cadmus sailed from Phoenicia and seized 
Thebes (in Bceotia), and long before Semele was born to 
Cadmus. Nevertheless, the Hercules worshipped by the 
Iberians (Spaniards), at Tartessus, who gave the name to 
the pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), is, in my 
opinion, the same with the Tyrian. For Tartessus 
was built by the Phoenicians, and a temple was reared 
there, and sacrifices performed to Hercules after the 
Phoenician manner." Again, in Book ii., chap., 24, 
" They who had fled to the temple of Hercules (being 
some of the chief nobility of Tyre, besides King 
Azelmicus, and some Carthaginian priests, who, accord- 
ing to ancient custom, were sent to their mother-city 
to offer sacrifices to Hercules) had the benefit of a free 
pardon." 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 7 

and compelled his allies to do the same : x and not 
long afterwards he consecrated after his death another 
son, named Muth, 2 whom he had by Rhea. 3 The 
Phoenicians call him Death and Pluto. After these 
things Kronus, gives the city of Byblus [Hebrew 
Gebal~\, to the goddess Baaltis, 4 who is also called 
Dione ; 5 and Berytus 6 he gave to Poseidon [or Nep- 



1 What relation Kronus or Saturn may really bear to 
Abraham it is difficult to say ; but there are certain points 
of resemblance which are quite unmistakable, ist, Kronus 
and Abraham both offer up a son in sacrifice, (Isaac being 
only saved at the last moment by a special intervention); 
2nd, both circumcise themselves ; 3rd, both compel their 
dependents to do the same. 

2 The god or genius of Death ; i.e., Pluto. tV\12, MUTH, 
in this sense, occurs in Psalm xlviii. 1 5. Eng. Vers. 14. 
See also Ps. xlix. 14. 

3 A daughter of Ouranos and Ge, or heaven and earth, 
and wife of Kronus or Saturn. 

4 In Hebrew this would be Thyi (baalath), the wife, 
viz., of Baal. She was hence, according to Hesychius, 
either Juno or Venus. She was worshipped in Carthage 
as Queen of Heaven, as also by the idolatrous Jews. — 
See Jeremiah vii. 18 and xliv. 17. 

6 Dione is also a daughter of Ouranos and Ge, or 
heaven and earth. In classical mythology she is repre- 
sented as beloved, by Jupiter, to whom she bore Venus. 
Homer represents Dione as receiving her wounded 
daughter with caresses and consolations, and threatening 
Diomede with a wretched future. 

6 Berytus, once a famous seat of law and learning, now 
the seaport for Damascus. It is now called Beyroot 



1 8 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

tune], and the Cabiri, 1 the husbandmen and fisher- 
men : and they consecrated the remains 2 of Pontus at 
Berytus. But before these things the god Taautus, 
having represented Ouranos, made types of the 
countenances of the gods Kronus and Dagon, and 
the sacred characters of the other elements. He 
contrived also for Kronus the ensign of his royal 
power, having four eyes in the parts before and in 
the parts behind, two of them closing as in sleep ; 
and upon the shoulders four wings, two in the act of 
flying, and two reposing as at rest. And the symbol 
was, that Kronus whilst he slept was watching, and 
reposed whilst he was awake. And in like manner 
with respect to his wings, that whilst he rested 
he was flying, 3^et rested whilst he flew. But to 
the other gods there were two wings only to each 
upon his shoulders, to intimate that they flew under 
the control of Kronus ; he had also two wings upon 
"his head, the one for the most governing part, the 
mind, and one for the sense. And Kronus coming 

1 The Cabiri, or Great Gods, eight in number, were 
mysterious deities, who were especially venerated at 
LemnQS, and at Samothrace. The worship of the Cabiri 
extended to all the western parts of the ancient world. 
Hence, we read of Boeotian, Egyptian, Macedonian, 
Etruscan, and Pelasgian Cabiri. They were especially 
invoked by sailors, and eventually confounded with the 
Dioscuri, i.e., Castor and Pollux. 

2 The first instance on record of the consecration of relics. 
Bp. Cumberland, in loc. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 9 

into the country of the south, gave all Egypt to the 
god Taautus [or Thoth], that it might be his kingdom. 
" These things," says Sanchoniathon, " the Cabiri, 
the seven sons of Sydyk, and their eighth brother 
Asclepius, [or Esmun, i.e., the eighth], first of all set 
down in memoirs, as the god Taautus [Thoth] com- 
manded them. All these things the son of Thabion, 1 
the first hierophant of all among the Phoenicians, 
allegorized, and mixed up with the occurrences and 
passions of nature and the world, and delivered to 
the priests and prophets, the superintendents of the 
mysteries : and they, perceiving the rage for these 
allegories increase, delivered them to their successors, 
and to foreigners : of whom one was Isiris, 2 the in- 
ventor of the three letters, the brother of Chna, 3 who 
is called the first Phoenician." 

To the last fragment, being of a very remarkable 
character, we append Jacob Bryant's Dissertation : — - 
" After having shewn that this is the only sacrifice 



1 By the son of Thabion both Cumberland and Wagner 
understand Sanchoniathon himself; but Orelli, with more 
probability, thinks that Jerombaal or Jerubaal, priest of 
the god Iao, is meant. Whether the same as Gideon, who 
is also called Jerubaal (Judges vi. 32) cannot be decided. 

2 By the name Isiris Cumberland thinks Misor, or Miz- 
raim, the brother of Taut, or Thoth, is meant. 

3 i.e., Canaan, the native name for Phoenicia, as we find 
on the Phoenician coins of Laodicea ad Libanum. — See my 
article " Phoenician Language and Inscriptions," in the 
Supplement (Arts and Sciences) to the English Cyclo. 1874. 



20 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

among the ancients, which is termed mystical ; and 
that Kronus, the personage who offers it was the 
chief deity of the Phoenicians ; and moreover, that it 
could not relate to any previous transaction, he con- 
cludes thus : — 

" The mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians had 
these requisites, that a prince was to offer it ; and 
his only son was to be the victim : and as I have 
shewn that this could not relate to any thing prior ; 
let us consider what is said upon the subject, as 
future, and attend to the consequence. For if the 
sacrifice of the Phoenicians was a type of another to 
come, the nature of this last will be known from the 
representation by which it was prefigured. Accord- 
ing to this, El, the supreme deity, whose associates 
were the Elohim, was in process of time to have 
a son, aryaTTrjTov, well-beloved : /jLovoyevyj, his only 
begotten : who was to be conceived (of avufiper), as 
some render it, of grace : but according to my inter- 
pretation, of the fountain of light. He was to be 
called Jeoud [or TIT, i.e., only] whatever that name 
may relate to ; and to be offered tip as a sacrifice to 
his father Xvrpov, by way of satisfaction, and redemp- 
tion, Tifuopois Sai(jLO(Ti, to atone for the sins of others, 
and avert the just vengeance of God ; avn rrys iravroiv 
(bOopas, to prevent universal corruption, and at the 
same time, general ruin. And it is farther remark- 
able ; he was to make the grand sacrifice invested with 
the emblems of royalty." Bryant thinks it must be 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 21 

allowed to be " a type of something to come ;" pre- 
figuring, as he supposes, the offering of Christ upon 

Calvary. 

From Porphyry. 

Taaut, whom the Egyptians call Thoth, when he 
flourished among the Phoenicians with great fame 
for his wisdom, arranged in elegant order, and in a 
scientific manner, those things which belong to reli- 
gion, and the worship of the gods, first vindicated 
from the ignorance of the lower classes and the 
heads of the people. To whom, when the god Sur- 
mubelus, and Thuro, who afterwards by a change of 
name was called Chrusarthes, succeeded, after a long 
interval of ages, they illustrated his secret theology, 
which had hitherto been involved in the shades of 
allegory. A little after, Sanchoniathon proceeds 
thus — 

Of the Mystical Sacrifice of the Phoenicians. 

"It was the custom among the ancients, in times of 
great calamity, in order to prevent the ruin of all, for 
the rulers of the city or nation to sacrifice to the 
avenging deities the most beloved of their children, 
as the price of redemption : they who were devoted 
for this purpose were offered mystically. For Kronus 
or (Saturn), whom the Phoenicians call Israel, 1 and 
who after his death was deified, and instated in the 

1 Qttcere, II ? 



2 2 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

planet which bears his name, when he was king, had 
by a nymph of the country, called Anobret, 1 an only 
son, who, on that account is styled Ieoud ; 2 for, so the 
Phoenicians still call an only son : and when great 
danger from war beset the land, he adorned the 
altar, and invested this son with the emblems of 
royalty, and sacrificed him. — From Eusebiui Prcep. 
Evang. lib, i. cap. x. 

From Philo-Byblius, or Porphyry, 

(// is uncertain), 

But, according to Wagner and others, this Fragment is, 
most probably, from Porphyry. 

ON THE SERPENT. 

Taautus first consecrated the basilisk, and intro- 
duced the worship of the serpent-tribe ; in which he 
was followed by the Phoenicians and Egyptians. 
For this animal was held by him to be the most 
inspirited of all the reptiles, and of a fiery nature ; 
inasmuch as it exhibits an incredible celerity, mo- 
ving by its spirit without either hands, or feet, or 
any of those external organs, by which other animals 
effect their motion. And in its progress it assumes 

1 i.e., Conceiving by favour, as interpreted by Bochart. 
By this name he thinks Sarah, the wife of Abraham, is 
intended. 

2 T'lT Yakhid, only-begotten, or only son. See the 
Hebrew text of Gen. xxii. 2. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 23 

a variety of forms, moving in a spiral course, and at 
what degree of swiftness it pleases, And it is very 
long-lived, and has the quality not only of putting 
off its old age, and assuming a second youth ; but 
it receives a greater increase. And when it has ful- 
filled the appointed measure of its existence, it con- 
sumes itself, as Taautus has laid down in the sacred 
books, wherefore this animal is introduced in the 
sacred rites and mysteries.— Bused. Prcep. Evang., 
Bk. i., chap. 10. 



End of the Fragments of Sanchoniathon, 



THE FRAGMENTS 



THE TYR1AN ANNALS 



DIUS AND MENANDER. 



THE TYRIAN ANNALS. 



From Dius. 

" Upon the death of Abibalus his son Hiromus 
[Hiram] succeeded to the kingdom. He raised the 
eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it ; and joined 
to it the temple of Jupiter Olympius, 1 which stood 
before upon an island, by filling up the intermediate 
space : and he adorned that temple with donations of 
gold : and he went up into Libanus [Lebanon], to 
cut timber for the construction of the temples. And 
it is said that Solomon, king of Jerusalem, sent enig- 
mas to Hiromus [Hiram], and desired others in 
return, with a proposal that whichsoever of the two 



1 Or Melkarth, i.e., King of the City, the Baal of Tyre. 
To this deity a very ancient and richly adorned temple 
was erected, which was renowned throughout the world. 
Annual gifts were sent thither from Carthage and the 
most distant Phoenician colonies. During my residence at 
Safed, in Galilee, in 1855, a great treasure of Tyrian coins 
was discovered, some of the finest of which I purchased. 
On one side was seen, beautifully executed, the head of 
the Tyrian Baal ; on the other an eagle (the symbol of the 
Syro-Macedonian dynasty, which at that time governed 
Tyre), with the inscription in Greek, which being translated 
reads, " Of Tyre a holy city and asylum." 



28 cory's ancient fragments. 

was unable to solve them, should forfeit money to 
the other. Hiromus [Hiram], agreed to the pro- 
posal, but was unable to solve the enigmas, and paid 
a large sum as a forfeit. And it is said that one 
Abdemonus, a Tyrian, solved the enigmas, and pro- 
posed others which Solomon was not able to unriddle, 
for which he repaid the fine to Hiromus [Hiram]." — 
Joseph, contr. Ap. lib. i. c. 17. — SynceL Chron. 182. 

End of the Fragment from Dues. 



From Menander. 



"After the death of Abibalus, Hiromus [Hiram] 
his son succeeded him in his kingdom, and reigned 
thirty- four years, having lived fifty-three. He laid 
out that part of the city which is called Eurychoron i 1 
and consecrated the golden column which is in the 
temple of Jupiter. 2 And he went up into the forest 



1 Literally, the broad dance. It designates, no doubt, an 
open space, as a square or promenade. 

2 Jupiter Belus, or Olympius ; i.e., the Tyrian Baal. By 
some writers he is called the Tyrian Hercules. From this 
deity the two mountains on the Strait of Gibraltar are 
called the Pillars of Hercules — Abyla on the one side and 
Calpe on the other — for, so far the Tyrian Hercules (or 
Baal) is said to have carried his conquests; in other words, so 
far did Phoenician commerce, at a very early period, extend. 



CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 29 

on the mountain called Libanus [Lebanon], to fell 
cedars for the roofs of the temples : and having de- 
molished the ancient temples, he rebuilt them, and 
consecrated the fanes [or temples] of Hercules [i.e., 
Baal] and Astarte : he constructed that of Hercules 
first, in the month Peritius [i.e., February] ; then that 
of Astarte, when he had overcome the Tityans who 
had refused to pay their tribute : and when he had 
reduced them he returned. In his time was a cer- 
tain young man named Abdemonus, who used to 
solve the problems which were propounded to him 
by Solomon, king of Jerusalem." — From Josephus 
contra Apion, lib. i. cap. 18 ; and Josephus Antiq. 
J 'ted. lib. viii. cap. 5. 



Of the Successors of Hiram, 

" Upon the death of Hiromus [Hiram], Baleazarus 
his son, succeeded to the kingdom ; he lived forty- 
three years, and reigned seven. After him, Abdas- 
tratus [Abd-Astarte], his son, reigned nine years, 
having lived twenty-nine. Against him the four sons 
of his nurse conspired and slew him. Of these, the 
eldest reigned twelve years. After them Astartus, 
the son of Delaeastartus, reigned twelve years, having 
lived fifty-four. After him his brother Aserumus, 
reigned nine years r having lived fifty-four. He was 
slain by his brother Pheles, who governed the king- 



30 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

dom eight months, having lived fifty years. He was 
murdered by a priest of Astarte, Ithobalus [Ethbaal], 
who reigned thirty-two years, having lived sixty- 
eight. He was succeeded by his son, Badezorus, 
who reigned six years, having lived forty-five. His 
successor was Matgenus, his son, who reigned nine 
years, having lived thirty- two. He was succeeded by 
Phygmalion, who reigned forty-seven years, having 
lived fifty-six. In the seventh year of his reign, his 
sister (Dido), fled from him, and founded the city of 
Carthage in Libya (b.c. 878). — From yosephus contra 
Apion, lib. i. cap. 18. 



Of the Invasion of Salmanasar (or Shalmaneser.) 

" Elul^eus 1 reigned thirty-six years : and he fitted 
out a fleet against the Kittaeans (Chittim or Cypriots) 
who had revolted, and reduced them to obedience. 
But Salmanasar, the king of the Assyrians, sent them 
assistance, and overran Phoenicia : and when he had 
made peace with the Phoenicians he returned with all 



1 Called LULIA, in the cuneiform inscription of Senna- 
cherib (Taylor cylinder line 35). This interesting historical 
document has been translated into English, and will be 
found at p. 35 of vol. i. of " Records of the Past." Norris, 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 3 1 

his forces. And Sidon, and Ake, 1 and Palsetyrus, 2 
and many other cities revolted from the Tyrians, and 
put themselves under the protection of the king of 
Assyria. But as the Tyrians still refused to submit, 
the king made another expedition against them : and 
the Phoenicians furnished him with sixty ships and 
eighty gallies : and the Tyrians attacked him with 
twelve ships, and dispersed the hostile fleet, and took 
prisoners to the amount of five hundred men : upon 
which account the Tyrians were held in great res- 
pect. But the king of Assyria stationed guards 
upon the river and at the aqueducts, to prevent the 
Tyrians from drawing water : and this continued 
five years, during all which time they were obliged to 
drink from wells which they dug." — Joseph. Antiq. 
J nd. lib. ix. c. 14. 



in his Assyrian Dictionary {sub voce LULI, p. 670), says the 
name Luliah occurs also in the Bellino cylinder, i. 18, and 
at line 13 of the Nebbi-Yunas inscription which records the 
campaigns of Esarhaddon. I do not find the name in 
either. In the Bellino no mention of Sidon at all, while 
in the Nebbi-Yunas the King is called Abdi-Milkutti. 
Josephus (Antiq. ix. 14) calls him Elulaeus, King of Tyre. 

1 Acco, now St. Jean dAcre : the Ptolemais of the 
New Testament. It occurs in Judges i. 31 ; Micah i. 10 
(Heb. text), and 1 Maccab. v. 22. 

2 i.e., Old Tyre. 



32 corys ancient fragments. 

Of the Kings and Judges from Nebuchadnezzar 

to Cyrus. 
In the reign of Ithobalus [or, Ethbaal 1 ], Nabuchod- 
onosorus [Nebuchadnezzar] beseiged Tyre for thir- 
teen years. 2 After him reigned Baal ten years. 
After him Judges [or Suffetes], were appointed who 
judged the people : Ecnibalus, the son of Balsachus, 
two months : Chelbes, the son of Abdaeus, ten 
months : Abbarus, the high-priest, three months : 
Mytgonus and Gerastratus the son of Abdelemus, 
six years : after them Balatorus reigned one year. 
After his death they sent to fetch Merbalus from 
Babylon ; and he reigned four years : and when he 
died they sent for Hiromus [Hiram], his brother, 
who reigned twenty years. In his time Cyrus was 
king of Persia." — Joseph, contr. Ap. lib. i. cap. 21. 

1 Ethbaal seems to have been a common Phoenician 
name. The first Tyrian king of this name gave his 
daughter Jezebel, (whence our name Isabella), to wife to 
Ahab, King of Israel. The sovereign here mentioned 
transferred the seat of government to Tyre on the island, 
which, in the time of Alexander the Great, was joined to 
Old Tyre on the mainland. 

2 Menander does not say that at the end of the time the 
city was taken. We learn this, however, from other sources, 
although some, from the silence of Menander, have inferred 
that Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege and departed without 
capturing Tyre. 

End of the Fragments from Menander. 



THE PERIPLUS 



HANNO. 



The Periplus of Hanno the Carthaginian is an 
account of the earliest voyage of discovery in exis- 
tence. It is taken from an original, and apparently, 
official document, which was suspended in the temple 
of II,' or Saturn, at Carthage. Falconer and Bou- 
gainville both agree in referring it to the sixth cen- 
tury before the Christian era> The Periplus is in- 
troduced by a few lines, reciting a decree of the 
Carthaginians, relating to the voyage and its objects. 
It is then continued as a narrative by the comman- 
der, or by one of his companions, commencing from 
the time the fleet had cleared the Pillars of Hercules 
— the Straits of Gibraltar. 



THE PERIPLUS 1 OF HANNO. 



The Voyage of Hanno, Commander of the 
Carthaginians. 

Round the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of 
Hercules, 2 which he deposited in the temple of 
Saturn [i.e., II, or Israel.] 

It was decreed by the Carthaginians, that Hanno 
should undertake a voyage beyond the pillars of 
Hercules, and found Libyphcenician cities. He 
sailed accordingly with sixty ships of fifty oars each, 
and a body of men and women to the number of 
thirty thousand, and provisions and other necessaries. 

When we had passed the Pillars [of Hercules] on 
our voyage, and had sailed beyond them for two 
days, we founded the first city, which we named 
Thymiaterium. 3 Below it lay an extensive plain. 
Proceeding thence towards the west, we came to 



1 Derived from Trepi around, and irXovs a sailing, a voyage; 
hence Periplus = a circumnavigation. 

2 The mountains Abyla and Calpe, situated on either 
side of the Strait of Gibraltar, were calfed by the ancients 
the Pillars of Hercules. 

3 Probably Mogadore. 



CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 37 

Soloeis, 1 a promontory of Libya, a place thickly 
covered with trees, where we erected a temple to 
Neptune ; and again proceeded for the space of half 
a day towards the east, until we arrived at a lake 
lying not far from the sea, and filled with abundance 
of large reeds. Here elephants, and a great number 
of other wild beasts were feeding. Having passed 
the lake about a day's sail, we founded cities near 
the sea, called Cariconticos, and Gytte, and Acra, 
and Melitta, and Arambys. Thence we came to 
the great river Lixus, 2 which flows from Libya. On 
its banks the Lixitse, a shepherd-tribe, were feeding 
flocks, amongst whom we continued some time on 
friendly terms. Beyond the Lixitse dwelt the inhos- 
pitable Ethiopians, who pasture a wild country inter- 
sected by large mountains, from which, they say, the 
river Lixus flows. In the neighbourhood of the 
mountains lived the Troglodytae, 3 men of various 
appearances, whom the Lixitae described as swifter 
in running than horses. Having procured interpre- 
ters from them, we coasted along a desert country, 
towards the south, for two days. Thence we pro- 
ceeded towards the east the course of a day. Here 
we found in a recess of a certain bay a small island, 



1 Cape Bojador. 

2 Supposed to be identical with the River d'Ouro ; or 
Rio d'Ouro. 

3 i.e., Dwellers in caves. 



38 cory's ancient fragments. 

containing a circle of five stadia, where we settled a 
colony, and called it Kerne. 1 We judged from our 
voyage that this place lay in a direct line with Car- 
thage ; for the length of our voyage from Carthage to 
the Pillars, was equal to that from the Pillars to Kerne. 

We then came to a lake which we reached by 
sailing up a large river called Chretes. 2 This lake 
had three islands, larger than Kerne ; from which 
proceeding a day's sail, we came to the extremity of 
the lake, that was overhung by large mountains, 
inhabited by savage men, clothed in skins of wild 
beasts, who drove us away by throwing stones, and 
hindered us from landing. Sailing thence we came 
to another river, 3 that was large and broad, and full 
of crocodiles, and river-horses ; whence returning 
back we came again to Kerne. 

Thence we sailed towards the south twelve days, 
coasting the shore, the whole of which is inhabited 
by Ethiopians, who would not wait our approach, but 
fled from us. Their language was not intelligible, 
even to the Lixitse who were with us. Towards 
the last day we approached some large mountains 
covered with trees, the wood of which was sweet- 
scented and variegated. Having sailed by these 



1 Probably, the island of Arguin, under the southern 
Cape Blanco. 

2 Perhaps the river St. John. 

3 Perhaps the river Senegal. 



CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 39 

mountains for two days, we came to an immense 
opening of the sea ; on each side of which, towards 
the continent, was a plain ; from which we saw, by 
night, fire arising, at intervals, in all directions, 
either more or less. Having taken in water there, 
we sailed forwards for five days near the land, until 
we came to a large bay, which our interpreters 
informed us was called the Western Horn. 1 In this 
was a large island, and in the island a salt-water 
lake, and in this another island, where, when we had 
landed, we could discover nothing in the day-time 
except trees ; but in the night we saw many fires 
burning, and heard the sound of pipes, cymbals, 
drums, and confused shouts. We were then afraid, 
and our diviners ordered us to abandon the island. 
Sailing quickly away thence, we passed a country 
burning with fires and perfumes ; and streams of fire 
supplied from it fell into the sea. The country was 
impassable on account of the heat. We sailed 
quickly thence, being much terrified ; and passing 
on for four days, we discovered at night a country 
full of fire. In the middle was a lofty fire, larger 
than the rest, which seemed to touch the stars. 
When day came, we discovered it to be a large hill, 
called the Chariot of the Gods. 2 On the third day 
after our departure thence, having sailed by those 



Probably Cape Palmas. 2 Perhaps Sierra Leone. 



40 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

streams of fire, we arrived at a bay called the 
Southern Horn j 1 at the bottom of which lay an 
island like the former, having a lake, and in this lake 
another island, full of savage people, (the greater 
part of whom were women), whose bodies were 
hairy, and whom our interpreters called Gorillse. 
Though we pursued the men we could not seize any 
of them ; but all fled from us, escaping over the 
precipices, and defending themselves with stones. 
Three women were, however, taken ; but they 
attacked their conductors with their teeth and hands, 
and could not be prevailed upon to accompany us. 
Having killed them, we flayed them, and brought 
their skins with us to Carthage. We did not sail 
further on, our provisions failing us. 



End of the Periplus of Hanno. 



1 Probably Cape Three Points. 



THE FRAGMENTS 



THE CHALDEAN HISTORY 



BEROSSUS, ABYDENUS, AND 
MEGASTHENES. 



BEROSUS. 



Berosus, or Berossus, for his name is variously 
written by ancient writers, was a priest of Bel, and 
most probably a native of Babylon. His name 
may be from ttfVfi (BEROSH) a fir-tree; WDN "Q 
(BAR ASYA) i.e., "Son of the Physician;" or, as 
the learned Scaliger conjectured, from BAR, or 
BIR, Son, and Hosea, hence " Son of Hosea." 

If the latter be the correct etymology, he may 
have been of Jewish origin. By some he is made to 
be a contemporary of Alexander the Great ; but it 
is more probable that he flourished in the reign of 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt. Justin 
Martyr will have it that he was the father of the 
Cumaean Sibyl, who lived in the reign of Tarquinius 
Superbus ; but the most probable opinion, and the 
best supported, is that of Tatian, the Assyrian, who 
tells us that Berosus dedicated his Three Books of 
Chaldean History to Antiochus Soter, King of 
Syria. (Tatian : Oratio contra Grcecos) {kvrioyu> 
T<p fxer avrov rplroy) which Eusebius has altered 
into AvTioyoi tw jxera ^eXevKov rpiTO). George, the 
Syncellus, of Byzantium, states that Berosus lived 
at the same time as Manetho the Egyptian, or 
a little before ; and Manetho, we know, was a 
contemporary of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who began 



44 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

his reign over Egypt, B.C. 284, and reigned 
38 years ; whence the learned Scaliger has endea- 
voured to prove that Berosus may have lived from 
the time of Alexander the Great to the 13th year of 
Antiochus Soter, King of Syria, and even beyond 
that period. Our author was held in great repute 
by ancient writers, and his authority was great with 
both Greek and Latin authors. Tatian confesses 
that he had not himself read the works of Berosus, 
but frankly acknowledges that he is indebted for the 
information he gives of him to Juba ii., Ki.ig of 
Mauritania, who had written a history of the 
Assyrians. Vitruvius (Book ix., chap. 1) informs us 
that having left Babylon upon the conquest of that 
city by Alexander, and being acquainted with the 
Greek laneuaee, Berosus established himself in Asia 
Minor, intending to teach Oriental science. Thence 
he removed to the island of Cos, where he had an 
observatory, and opened a school of astronomy, 
which at that period also comprehended astrology. 

To him, says Pliny (Natural History, vii. 37), the 
Athenians erected a statue in the Gymnasium with 
a gilded tongue, on account of his astronomical 
knowledge, and the wonderful accuracy of his 
predictions. He is also credited by Vitruvius with 
the invention of some kind of astronomical clock. 
[Hemicyclium excavatum ex quadrato ad encli- 
maque succisum Berosus Chaldaeus dicitur invenisse.] 
Pliny tells us that the genuine works of our author 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 45 

contained astronomical observations for a space of 
480 years, i.e., from Nabonassar to B.C. 270. All 
his works have perished except a few fragments ; 
but it is unanimously agreed among ancient writers 
that the Berosus who wrote the history of the 
Chaldeans, also wrote various astronomical treatises. 
Josephus, Plutarch, Eusebius, George the Syncellus, 
Athenseus, Pliny, Seneca, Pausanias, Jerome, and 
many other ancient authors, have expressly men- 
tioned our author, or have given quotations from 
his works. We cannot, however, deny that many of 
the fragments of Berosus which' have conie down to 
us, have been more or less corrupted, sometimes 
through the carelessness of copyists, at others inten- 
tionally to serve the writer's purpose. Whether he 
had ever seen the Hebrew Scriptures is very un- 
certain. Josephus says that he made mention of 
Abraham, but without expressly naming him, calling 
him " a just and great man among the Chaldeans, 
who lived in the 10th generation after the flood," 
and saying that he was an observer of the heavens. 

It is certainly very remarkable that he should 
have given a description of the Flood in terms so 
much resembling the account in the Book of 
Genesis, but . still more striking that the ten kings 
enumerated by Berosus, as reigning before the 
Flood, should agree so closely (not in name but in 
number), with the ten generations from Adam to 
Noah. Noah is represented by Xisuthrus- — the 



46 cory's ancient fragments. 

hero of the Deluge, according to Berosus — but who 
may be meant by Oannes and the Annedoti, it is 
very difficult to say. Berosus, as priest of the god 
Bel, would have access to the temple archives, and 
therefore whatever is stated by him is of the highest 
importance. 

We have the names of a dynasty of Chaldean 
kings handed down to us, supposed by some to be 
from Berosus. These are 

EvECHOUS, who reigned 6 years. 



PORUS 


35 , 


Nechobes 


43 , 


Abius 


45 „ 


Oniballus 


40 , 


ZlNZIRUS 


45 , 



George the Syncellus also gives a list of the Arab 
dynasty, consisting of six kings, who reigned over 
Babylon ; but whence he obtained it we are not 
informed. These are 

MARDOKENTES, who reigned 45 years. 
SlSIMADACUS „ 28 „ 

Gabius „ 37 » 
Parannos „ 40 „ 
Nabonnabos „ 25 „ 
{name lost) „ 41 „ 

Among the thousands of cuneiform inscriptions 
deposited in the British Museum, there are very few 
which contain any general chronology of the Assyrio- 
Babylonian Empire, although we possess a few 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 47 

which give the number of years that had elapsed 
between particular and important events. Our 
Museum rejoices, however, in the possession of some 
precious fragments of a Synchronous History of 
Babylon and Assyria, which describes the wars, 
treaties, and other important transactions between 
the kingdoms of Babylonia and Assyria during 
several centuries, but we have no connected and con- 
tinuous history. 

This most important document was translated and 
in part published by Sir Henry Rawlinson some 
years ago. A translation of the whole of it, includ- 
ing some recently-discovered fragments, translated 
by Rev. A. H. Sayce, is now to be found in the 
Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, 
vol. ii. pt. i., and again republished in Records of the 
Past, vol. iii., p. 25. 

Then we have another most valuable aid to 
Assyrian chronology in the Assyrian Canon, 1 which 
extends, however, only from B.C. 909 to B.C. 68o> 
comprising a period of about 230 years, the chro- 
nology of which is confirmed and verified by a solar 
eclipse therein mentioned, and which we know hap- 
pened on June 15th, B.C. 763. Translations of this 
Canon were published in the Athenceum (Nos. 18 12 
and 2064.) by Sir Henry Rawlinson, and subsequently 
in a more complete form by Schrader in his admir- 

1 The Assyrian Canon, by George Smith. Bagster, 1875. 



48 cory's ancient fragments. 

able work entitled, Die Kcilinschriften und Das 
Alte Testament. — Leipzig, 1S69. 

It had long been a matter of speculation among 
scholars as to the source whence Berosus drew his 
information regarding the early times of the Baby- 
lonian Empire. The general opinion, however, was 
that in his capacity of priest of Bel, he had access in 
the temple to documents unknown to the vulgar, 
whilst the spread of the Greek language in Asia 
through the Macedonian conquests, furnished him 
with an enquiring public who would welcome such 
information, drawn as it were out of the mysterious 
darkness of Babylonian temples. Such opinion has 
quite recently met with a remarkable confirmation. 
Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, the able 
decipherer of the Deluge, and other cuneiform 
tablets, has announced, in the Transactions of the 
Society of Biblical Archeology, that he has discovered 
what he believes to be the very tablets whence the 
priest of Bel derived his information. If such be 
not the case, it will at least be very difficult to 
account for the remarkable agreement which we find 
upon many points between the statements of 
Berosus, and the information supplied by the cunei- 
form tablets. 

Thus, the first dynasty of Berosus consists of ten 
kings who reigned before the flood, answering to the 
ten antediluvian Patriarchs of the Old Testament. 
The first name in the list of Berosus is Alorus, 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 49 

answering to Adi-ur of the cuneiform, which signifies 
" devoted to the god Ur." His fifth name is 
Amegalarus, which possibly represents the cunei- 
form Amil-ur-gal, i.e., man, or servant of Urgal. The 
last two names of this dynasty are Otiartes and 
Xisuthrus answering to the cuneiform Ubara-Tutu 
and Si-sit The former name is given, in one copy 
of Berosus, as Ardates, which corresponds to the 
Assyrian ardu — a servant, while Tutu is the name 
of a god ; hence, servant of Tutu, which is also 
the meaning of the Accadian Ubara- Tzitu. Tsisit 
or Sisit is the Hero of the Flood, the history 
of which, as given by Berosus, so remarkably corre- 
sponds with the Biblical account of the Noachian 
Deluge that no one can doubt that both proceed 
from one source — they are evidently transcriptions, 
except the names, from some ancient document. 
We shall see this brought out more distinctly when 
we come to his History of the Deluge. The read- 
ing of the name is, however, conjectural, 1 as to the 
pronunciation, while the meaning of the two char- 
acters composing it appears to denote him who 
escaped the flood. . 



1 Mr. George Smith has since announced {Assyrian 
Discoveries, pp. 167, 179, 182) that he has found a tablet 
with the name of the hero of the Deluge written phoneti- 
cally, KHA-SIS-ADRA ; so that Xisuthrus is evidently only 
a Greek corruption. 

D 



5<d cory's ancient fragments. 

For further information concerning the Fragments 
of Berosus we must refer the reader to, " Berosi 
Chaldceorum Histories quce supersunt, cum Com- 
mentatione" edited by Dr. Richter, Leipzig, 1825, 
to which we acknowledge ourselves much indebted, 
in regard to the notes and explanations given in this 
work. We must, however, mention in the highest 
terms of commendation, two works which have re- 
cently appeared, the one by Mr. George Smith, en- 
titled The Chaldean Account of Genesis (London, 
1875), being illustrations of the Book of Genesis 
from cuneiform sources ; the other an important work 
by M. Francois Lenormant, Essai de Commentaire 
des Fragments Cosmogoniques de Berose, d'apres les 
Textes Cuneiforms et les Monuments de VArt 
Asiatiqtce. 8vo. Paris, 1872. 



BEROSUS: 

Extracted from Apollodorus. 



Of the Chaldean Kings. 

" This is the history which Berosus has transmitted 
to us. He tells us that the first king was 
Alorus 1 of Babylon, a Chaldaean ; he reigned ten 
/ sari 2 ; and afterwards Alaparus and Amelon, who 
came from Pantibiblon 3 ; then Ammenon the Chal- 
daean, in whose time appeared the Musarus Oannes, 
the Annedotus, from the Erythraean 4 sea. (But 
Alexander Polyhistor, anticipating the event, has 
said that he appeared in the first year ; but Apollo- 
dorus says that it was after forty sari ; Abydenus, 
however, makes the second Annedotus appear after 
twenty-six sari.) Then succeeded Megalarus, from 
the city of Pantibiblon, and he reigned eighteen - ^ 4* ■ £ 
sari ; and after him Daonus, the shepherd, from 
Pantibiblon, reigned ten sari ; in his time, (he says), 

1 Ur is the name of an ancient Babylonian deity. 

2 For the explanation of the Babylonian words saros, 
neros, and sossus, see p. 53 of the present work, line 8th 
from the top. 

3 This is the Greek rendering of Sippara, called Sephar- 
vaim, or the two Sipparas in our Bible. — 2 Kings xvii. 24. 

4 This signifies both the Red Sea and the Persian 
Gulf. Here it must mean the latter. 



52 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

appeared again, from the Erythraean (or Red) sea, a 
fourth Annedotus, having the same form with those 
above, the shape of a fish blended with that of a 
man. Then Euedoreschus reigned from the city of 
Pantibiblon 1 for the period of eighteen sari. In his 
days there appeared another personage, whose name 
was Odacon, from the Erythrean (or Red) sea, 2 like 
the former, having the same complicated form, be- 
tween a fish and a man. (All these, says Apollodorus, 
related particularly and circumstantially whatever 
Oannes had informed them of. Concerning these 
appearances Abydenus has made no mention.) 
Then Amempsinus, a Chaldaean from Laranchae, 3 
reigned, and he, being the eighth in order, ruled for 
ten sari. Then Otiartes, a Chaldaean from Laranchae, 
reigned, and he ruled for eight sari. 

Upon the death of Otiartes, his son, Xisuthrus, 4 
reigned eighteen sari. In his time the great Flood 
happened. So the sum total of all the kings is ten ; 
and the period which they collectively reigned 
amounts to one hundred and twenty sari. — Extracted 
from the Chronicon of Syncellus 39, and Eusebhis 
Chronicon 5. 

1 Sippara, or Sepharvaim. 

2 The Persian Gulf. 

3 Larissa, the modern Senkereh. The name Larsa occurs 
in a cuneiform inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, now in the 
British Museum. — See also Xenophon's Anab. Bk.iii. c. 4. 

4 i.e., Khasis-Adra. 



BEROSUS 
From Abydenus. 



Of the Chaldean Kings and the Deluge. 

" So much concerning the wisdom of the Chaldaeans. 

It is said that the first king of the country was 
Alorus 1 , who gave out a report that he was ap- 
pointed by God to be the Shepherd of the people : 
he reigned ten sari. Now a sarus is esteemed to be 
three thousand six hundred years ; a neros, six hun- 
dred : and a sossus, sixty. 

After him Alaparus reigned three sari ; to him 
succeeded Amillarus, from the city of Pantibiblon, 
who reigned thirteen sari ; in his time a semi-dsemon 
called Annedotus, very like to Oannes, 2 came up a 
second time from the sea. After him Ammenon 
reigned twelve sari, who was of the city of Pantibi- 
blon 3 ; then Megalarus, of the same place, eighteen 
sari ; then Daos, the shepherd, governed for the 
space of ten sari, he was of Pantibiblon ; in his time 
four double-shaped personages came out of the sea 
to land, whose names were Euedocus, Eneugamus, 



1 Ur, an ancient Babylonian deity, mentioned in the 
Cuneiform inscription of Urukh as the eldest son of Bel. 
— See Records of the Past, vol. iii. pp. 9, 10. 

2 Perhaps the god Anu, of the Assyrian inscriptions. 

3 Sippara, or Sepharvaim. 



54 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

Eneuboulos, and Anementus. After these things 
was Anodaphus, in the time of Euedoreschus. 
There were afterwards other kings, and last of all 
Sisithrus (Xisuthrus). So that, in all, the number 
amounted to ten kings, and the term of their reigns 
to one hundred and twenty sari. And, among 
other matters not irrelevant to the subject, he con- 
tinues thus concerning the deluge. After Euedo- 
reschus some others reigned, and then Sisithrus 
(Xisuthrus). To him the god Kronus (i.e. Saturn) 
foretold that, on the fifteenth day of the month Desius 
there would be a Deluge, and commanded him to 
deposit all the writings whatever he had in the city 
of the Sun, in Sippara. Sisithrus (Xisuthrus), when 
he had complied with these commands, instantly 
sailed to Armenia, and was immediately inspired 
by God. During the prevalence of the waters 
i Sisithrus (Xisuthrus) sent out birds that he might 
judge if the flood had subsided. But the birds pas- 
sing over an unbounded sea, and not finding any 
place of rest returned again to Sisithrus. This he 
repeated ; and when upon the third trial he succeeded, 
for the birds then returned with their feet stained 
with mud, the gods translated him from among men. 
With respect to the vessel, which yet remains in 
Armenia, it is a custom of the inhabitants to form 
bracelets and amulets of its wood.— From Syncelhis 
38, Eusebius, Prcepar. Evangel, lib. ix. } and Ezisebius 
Chronic on v., 8. 






corys ancient fragments. 55 

Of the Tower of Babel. 

" They say that the first inhabitants of the earth, 
glorying in their own strength and size, and des- 
pising the gods, undertook to build a tower, whose 
top should reach the sky, upon that spot where 
Babylon now stands. But, when it approached the 
heaven, the winds assisted the gods, and overturned 
the work upon its contrivers, (its ruins are said to be 
at Babylon,) and the gods introduced a diversity of 
tongues among men, who till that time had all spoken 
the same language. And a war arose between 
Kronus {i.e. Saturn) and Titan ; and the place in 
which they built the tower is now called Babylon, 1 on 
account of the confusion of the languages ; for con- 
fusion is by the Hebrews called Babel." — From 
Eusebius, Proep. Evangel, lib. ix. Syncellus Chron. 44, 
and Eusebiui Chronicon 13. 



1 Babylon is the Greek form of the Assyrian name 
Bab-ilu, i.e., Gate of God. It was regarded as a holy city. 
The Hebrew word BlLBOOL, resembling Babiln in sound, 
and signifying confusion, gave rise to the narrative of the 
confusion of tongues, and led to the Jewish explanation 
of the name Babel as connected with that event. A story 
somewhat similar is found in a cuneiform inscription trans- 
lated by Mr. Boscawen, and published in the Trans. Soc. 
Bib. Arch., vol. iv. 



BEROSUS : 

From Alexander Polyhistor. 



Of the Cosmogony and Causes of the Deluge. 

Berosus, in his first book concerning the history of 
Babylonia, informs us that he lived in the time of 
Alexander, the son of Philip. And he mentions 
that there were written accounts preserved at Babylon 
with the greatest care, comprehending a term of 
fifteen myriads of years. These writings contained 
a history of the heavens and the sea ; of the birth of 
mankind ; also of those who had sovereign rule ; and 
of the actions achieved by them. 

And, in the first place, he describes Babylonia as 
a country which lay between the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates. He mentions that it abounded with wheat, 
barley, ocrus, sesamum ; and in the lakes were found 
the roots called gongae, which were good to be eaten, 
and were, in respect to nutriment, like barley. There 
were also palm-trees and apples, and most kinds of 
fruits ; fish, too, and birds ; both those which are 
merely of flight, and those which take to the element 
of water. The part of Babylonia which bordered 
upon Arabia was barren, and without water ; but 
that which lay on the other side had hills, and was 
fruitful. At Babylon there was (in these times) a 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 57 

great resort of people of various nations, who in- 
habited Chaldea, and lived without rule and order, 
like the beasts of the field. 

In the first year there made its appearance, from 
a part of the Erythraean sea 1 which bordered upon 
Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason, who was 
called Oannes. (According to the account of Apollo- 
dorus) the whole body of the animal was like that of 
a fish ; and had under a fish's head another head, 
and also feet below, similar to those of a man, sub- 
joined to the fish's tail. His voice, too, and language 
was articulate and human ; and a representation of 
him is preserved even to this day. 

This Being, in the day-time, used to converse with 
men ; but took no food at that season ; and he gave 
them an insight into letters, and sciences, and every 
kind of art. He taught them to construct houses, 
to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to 
them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He 
made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and 
showed them how to collect fruits. In short, he 
instructed them in everything which could tend to 
soften manners and humanise mankind. From that 
time, so universal were his instructions, nothing 
material has been added by way of improvement. 
When the sun set it was the custom of this Being to 
plunge again into the sea, and abide all night in the 
deep ; for he was amphibious. 

1 The Persian Gulf. 



58 cory's ancient fragments. 

After this, there appeared other animals, like 
Oannes, of which Berosus promises to give an 
account when he comes to the history of the kings. 
Moreover, Oannes wrote concerning the generation 
of mankind ; of their different ways of life, and of 
their civil polity ; and the following is the purport of 
what he said, — 

" There was a time in which there was nothing 
but darkness and an abyss, of waters, 1 wherein resided 
most hideous beings, which were produced of a two- 
fold principle. Men appeared with two wings, some 
with four wings, and two faces. They had one body, 
but two heads — the one of a man, the other of a 
woman. They were likewise, in their several organs, 
both male and female. Other human figures were 
to be seen with the legs and horns of goats. Some 
had horses' feet ; others had the limbs of a horse 
behind, but before were fashioned like men, resem- 
bling hippocentaurs. Bulls, likewise, bred there with 
the heads of men ; and dogs, with fourfold bodies, 
and the tails of fishes. Also horses, with the heads 
of dogs : men, too, and other animals, with the heads 
and bodies of horses and the tails of fishes. In 
short, there were creatures with the limbs of every 
species of animals. Add to these fishes, reptiles, 
serpents, with other wonderful animals, which 
assumed each other's shape and countenance. Of 

1 Compare with Genesis i. 2. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 59 

all these were preserved delineations in the temple 
of Belus at Babylon. 

" The person, who was supposed to have presided 
over them, was a woman named Omoroca 1 ; which 
in the Chaldee language is Thalatth ; which in Greek 
is interpreted Thalassa 2 , the sea : but, according 
to the most true computation, it is equivalent to Selene, 
the moon. All things being in this situation, Belus 
came, and cut the woman asunder : and, out of one 
half of her, he formed the earth, and of the other 
half the heavens ; and at the same time he destroyed 
the animals in the abyss. All this (he says) was an 
allegorical description of nature. For the whole 
universe consisting of moisture, and animals being 
continually generated therein ; the deity (Belus), 
above-mentioned, cut off his own head ; upon which 
the other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, 
with the earth ; and from thence men were formed. 
On this account it is that men are rational, and 
partake of divine knowledge. This Belus, whom 
men call Dis, (or Pluto,) divided the darkness, and 
separated the heavens from the earth, and reduced 
the universe to order. But the animals so recently 



1 This is a Greek corruption of the Aramaic word, 
Np^DSJ Amqia, i.e., the deep ; the ocean. 

2 Thalath, or Thalassa, is evidently to. aXs, i.e., to. for 
tha = the Egyptian feminine article the, and the Greek aXs, 
salt — hence, the sea. 



60 cory's ancient fragments. 

created, not being able to bear the prevalence of 
light, died. 

Belus upon this, seeing a vast space quite un- 
inhabited, though by nature very fruitful, ordered 
one of the gods to take off his head ; and when it 
was taken off, they were to mix the blood with the 
soil of the earth, and from thence to form other 
men and animals, which should be capable of bear- 
ing the light. Belus also formed the stars, and the 
sun and the moon, together with the five planets. 
(In the second book was the history of the ten 
kings of the Chaldeans, and the periods of each 
reign, which consisted collectively of one hundred 
and twenty sari, or 432,000 years, reaching to the 
time of the Flood. For Alexander, surnamed 
Polyhistor, as from the writings of the Chaldeans, 
enumerating the kings from the ninth, Ardates, to 
Xisuthrus, who is called by them the tenth, proceeds 
in this manner :) 

After the death of Ardates, his son, Xisuthrus, 
succeeded, and reigned eighteen sari. In his time 
happened the great Deluge ; the history of which is 
given in this manner. The Deity, Kronus, appeared 
to him in a vision, and gave him notice, that upon 
the fifteenth day of the month Dsesia 1 there would 
be a flood, by which mankind would be destroyed. 
He therefore enjoined him to commit to writing a 

1 The 5th month of the Macedonian year, answering to 
May and June. 



cory's ancient fragments. 6i 

history of the beginning, progress, and final con- 
clusion of all things, down to the present term ; and 
to bury these accounts securely in the city of the 
Sun 1 at Sippara ; and to build a vessel, and to take 
with him into it his friends and relations ; and to 
convey on board everything necessary to sustain 
life, and to take in also all species of animals that 
either fly, or rove upon the earth ; and trust himself 
to the deep. Having asked the Deity, whither he 
was to sail ? he was answered, " To the Gods : " 
upon which he offered up a prayer for the good of 
mankind. And he obeyed the divine admonition : 
and built a vessel five stadia in length, and in breadth 
two. Into this he put everything which he had got 
ready ; and last of all conveyed into it his wife, 
children, and friends. After the Flood had been 
upon the earth, and was in time abated, Xisuthrus 
sent out some birds 2 from the vessel, which, not 
finding any food, nor any place to rest their feet, 
returned to him again. After an interval of some 
days, he sent them forth a second time, and they 
now returned with their feet tinged with mud. He 
made a trial a third time with these birds, but they 
returned to him no more ; from whence he formed a 
judgment, that the surface of the earth was now 



1 The sun was worshipped by the Assyrians as a God, 
under the name of Shamas, the Hebrew Shemesh. 

2 Compare with Genesis viii. 7 — 12. 



62 cory's ancient fragments. 

above the waters. Having, therefore, maAe an 
opening in the vessel, and finding, upon looking out, 
that the vessel was driven to the side of a mountain, 
he immediately quitted it, being attended by his 
wife, his daughter, and the pilot. Xisuthrus imme- 
diately paid his adoration to the earth, and, having 
constructed an altar, offered sacrifices 1 to the gods. 

These things being duly performed, both 
Xisuthrus, and those who came out of the vessel 
with him, disappeared. They who remained in the 
vessel, finding that the others did not return, came 
out, with many lamentations, and called continually 
on the name of Xisuthrus. They saw him no more, 
but could distinguish his voice in the air, and could 
hear him admonish them to pay due regard to the 
gods. He likewise informed them that it was upon 
account of his piety that he was translated 2 to live 
with the gods ; that his wife and daughter, with the 
pilot, had obtained the same honour. To this he 
added that he would have them make the best of 
their way to Babylonia, and search for the writings 
at Sippara, which were to be made known to all 
mankind : and that the place where they then were 
was the land of Armenia. 3 The remainder having 

1 See Genesis viii. 20. 

2 Compare with this the translation of Enoch, Genesis v. 

23. 24. 

3 Compare with Genesis viii. 4. Ararat is the Hebrew 
name of Armenia. — See 2 Kings xix. 37. 



cory's ancient fragments. 63 

heard these words, offered sacrifices to the gods ; 
and taking a circuit, journeyed towards Babylonia. 

The vessel, being thus stranded in Armenia, some 
part of it yet remains in the Gordyaean* mountains 
in Armenia ; and the people scrape off the bitumen, 2 
with which it had been outwardly coated, and make 
use of it by way of an alexipharmic 3 and amulet. In 
this manner they returned to Babylon ; and having 
found the writings at Sippara, they set about build- 
ing cities, and erecting temples : and Babylon was 
thus inhabited again. — Syncel. Chron. 28. — Euseb. 
Chron. 5, 8. 

Of Abraham. 

After the Flood, in the tenth generation, there 
was a certain man among the Chaldeans, renowned 
for his justice and great exploits, and for his skill in 
the celestial sciences. — Euseb. Praep. Evang., lib. ix„ 

Of Nabonasar. 

The Chaldeans, (from whom the Greek mathe- 
maticians copy,) are accurately acquainted with the 
motion of the stars only from the reign of Nabo- 



1 The mountains of Kurdistan. 

2 Or mineral pitch. — See Genesis vi. 14. 

3 i.e., an antidote to. poison, and an amulet, or charm, 
against the evil eye. 



64 cory's ancient fragments. 

nasar. For Nabonasar collected all the chronicles 
of the kings prior to himself, and destroyed them, 
so that the enumeration of the Chaldean kings 
might commence with him. — From Syncellus' 
Chronicon, 207. 

Of the Destruction of the Jewish Temple. 

He (Nabopallasar) sent his son, Nabuchodonosor, 
{i.e., Nebuchadnezzar) with a great army against 
Egypt, and against Judea, upon being informed 
that they had revolted from him ; and by that means 
he subdued them all, and set fire to the temple that 
was at Jerusalem, and removed our people 1 entirely 
out of their own country, and transferred them to 
Babylon ; and it happened that our city was desolate 
during the interval of seventy years, until the days 
of Cyrus king of Persia. (He then says, that), this 
Babylonian king conquered Egypt, and Syria, and 
Phoenicia, and Arabia, and exceeded in his exploits 
all that had reigned before him in Babylon and 
Chaldsea. — Joseph contr. Aftion., lib. 1, c. 19. 

Of Nebuchadnezzar. 

When Nabopollasar, his (Nebuchadnezzar's) father, 
heard that the governor, whom he had set over 
Egypt, and the parts of Ccelesyria and Phoenicia, 
had revolted, he was unable to put up with his 

1 The Jews. 



cory's ancient fragments. 65 

delinquencies any longer, but committed certain 
parts of his army to his son, Nabuchodonosor 
(Nebuchadnezzar), who was then but young, and 
sent him against the rebel : and Nabuchodonosor 
fought with him, and conquered him, and reduced 
the country again under his dominion. i\nd it 
happened that his father, Nabopollasar, fell into a 
distemper at this time, and died in the city of 
Babylon, after he had reigned twenty-nine years. 

After a short time, Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchad- 
nezzar), receiving the intelligence of his father's 
death, set the affairs of Egypt and the other 
countries in order, and committed the captives he 
had taken from the Jews and Phoenicians and 
Syrians, and of the nations belonging to Egypt, 
to some of his friends, in order that they might 
conduct that part of his forces that had on heavy 
armour, together with the rest of his baggage, to 
Babylonia ; while he went in haste, with a few 
followers, across the desert to Babylon. When he 
was come there, he found that affairs had been well 
conducted by the Chaldeans, and that the principal 
person among them had preserved the kingdom for 
him. Accordingly, he now obtained possession of 
all his father's dominions. He ordered the captives 
to be distributed in colonies, in the most suitable 
places of Babylonia, and adorned the temple of 
Belus, with the other temples, in a sumptuous and 
pious manner, out of the spoils he had taken in this 



66 cory's ancient fragments. 

war. He also rebuilt the old city, (Babylon), and 
added another to it on the outside, and so far 
restored Babylon, that none who should besiege it 
afterwards might have it in their power to divert 
the river, so as to facilitate an entrance into it ; and 
this he did by building three walls about the inner 
city, and three about the outer one. Some of these 
walls he built of burnt brick, and bitumen, and some 
of brick only. When he had thus admirably fortified 
the city with walls, and had magnificently adorned 
the gates, he added also a new palace to those in 
which his forefathers had dwelt, adjoining them, but 
exceeding them in height and in its great splendour. 
It would, perhaps, require too long a narration, if 
any one were to describe it; however, as prodigiously 
large and magnificent as it was, it was finished in 
fifteen days. In this palace he erected very high 
walks, supported by stone pillars ; and by planting 
what was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing 
it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect 
an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. 
This he did to please his queen, 1 because she had 
been brought up in Media, and was fond of a 
mountainous situation." — Joseph contr. Apzon., lib. 
i, c. 19. — Syncel. Chron. 220. — Euseb. Prcep. Evan., 
lib. 9. 

1 Amytis. 



cory's ancient fragments. 67 

Of the Chaldean Kings after Nebuchadnezzar. 

" Nabuchodonosor, after he had begun to build 
the above-mentioned wall, fell sick, and departed this 
life, when he had reigned forty-three years ; where- 
upon his son Evilmerodachus (Evilmerodach 1 — 
Jeremiah Hi. 31) obtained the kingdom. He 
governed public affairs in an illegal and improper 
manner ; and, by means of a plot laid against him 
by Neriglissoorus, (Neriglissor), his sister's husband, 
he was slain when he had reigned only two years. 
After his death, Neriglissor, who had conspired 
against him, succeeded him in the kingdom, and 
reigned four years. His son, Laborosoarchodus, 
obtained the kingdom, although a mere child, and 
reigned nine months. But, on account of the evil 
practices which he manifested, a plot being made 
against him by his friends, he was tortured to 
death. 

After his death, the conspirators having assembled, 
by common consent, put the crown on the head of 
Nabonnedus, 2 a man of Babylon, one of the leaders 
of that insurrection. It was in his reign that the 
walls of Babylon were curiously built of burnt brick 
and bitumen. 

In the seventeenth year of his, (Nabonidus's 
reign, Cyrus came out of Persia, with a great army, 

1 i.e. Man or servant of Merodach. 2 Nabonidus. 



68 cory's ancient fragments. 

and having conquered all the rest of Asia, he came 
hastily to Babylonia. When Nabonnedus (Naboni- 
dus), perceived that he was advancing to attack him, 
he assembled his forces and opposed him, but was 
defeated, and fled with a few of his attendants, and 
was shut up in the city Borsippus. Whereupon 
Cyrus took Babylon, and gave orders that the outer 
walls should be demolished, because the city had 
proved very troublesome to him, and difficult to 
take. He then marched to Borsippus, to besiege 
Nabonnedus [Nabonidus] ; but, as Nabonnedus de- 
livered himself into his hands without holding out 
the place, he was at first kindly treated t>y Cyrus, 
who gave him a habitation in Carmania, and sent 
him out of Babylonia. Accordingly, Nabonnedus 
[Nabonidus] spent the remainder of his time in that 
country, and there died." — Joseph, contr. App. y lib. 
i, c. 20. — Euseb. Prczp. Evan., lib. 10. 

Of the Feast of Sacea. 

" Berosus, in the first book of his Babylonian 
history, says : That in the eleventh month, called 
Loos, 1 is celebrated in Babylon the Feast of Sacea, 
for five days ; in which it is the custom that the 
masters should obey their domestics, one of whom 
is led round the house, clothed in a royal garment, 
and him they call Zoganes." — Extracted from 
Atken&zis, lib. 14. 

1 The Macedonian month Loos answers to our July. 



cory's ancient fragments. 69 

Concerning the Innovations introduced into the 
Religion of the Persians by Artaxerxes II. 

" They (the Persians) neither received images of 
wood nor stone, as the Greeks ; nor worshipped 
ibises and ichneumons, like the Egyptians ; but 
only reverenced fire and water, like philosophers. 

Berosus, however, relates in the 3rd Book of his 
Chaldean Histories, that after many ages they 
worshipped images in human form ; this being in- 
troduced by Artaxerxes, the son of Darius, the son 
of Ochus, who having set up the image of Venus 
Anaitis in Babylon, and Susa, and Ecbatana, Persia, 
Bactria, Damascus, and Sardis, charged the people 
to worship it." — Extracted from Clement, Bishop of 
Alexandria {Admonitio ad Gentes), p. 43. 



CHRONOLOGICAL AND ASTRONOMICAL 
FRAGMENTS. 



Of the Great Year, 

" Berosus, who thus interprets the Babylonian 
tradition, says that these events take place according 
to the course of the stars ; and he affirms it so 
positively as to fix the time for the (general) confla- 
gration of the world, and the Deluge. He maintains 
that all terrestrial things will be consumed when the 
planets, which now are traversing their different 
courses, shall all coincide in the sign of Cancer, and 
be so placed, that a straight line could pass directly 
through all their orbs. But the Flood will take 
place (he says) when the same conjunction of the 
planets shall take place in the constellation Capri- 
corn. The summer is in the former constellation, 
the winter in the latter," — From Seneca, Nat. 
Qu&st. hi., 29. 



MEGASTH ENES 

From Abydenus. 



Of Nebuchadnezzar. 

" Abydenus, in his history of the Assyrians, has pre- 
served the following fragment of Megasthenes, who 
says : That Nabucodrosorus [Nebuchadnezzar], 
having become more powerful than Hercules, in- 
vaded Libya and Iberia, [Spain], and. when he had 
rendered them tributary, he extended his conquests 
over the inhabitants of the shores upon the right of 
the sea. It is, moreover, related by the Chaldseans, 
that as he went up into his palace he was possessed 
by some god ; and he cried out, and said : " Oh ! 
Babylonians, I, Nabucodrosorus (Nebuchadnezzar) 
foretel unto you a calamity which must shortly come 
to pass, which neither Belus my ancestor, nor his 
queen Beltis, have power to persuade the Fates to 
turn away. A Persian mule shall come, and, by the 
assistance of your gods shall impose upon you the 
yoke of slavery ; the author of which shall be a 
Mede, the foolish pride of Assyria. Before he 
should thus betray my subjects, Oh ! that some sea, 
or whirlpool, might receive him, and his memory be 
blotted out for ever ; or that he might be cast out to 
wander through some desert, where there are neither 
cities nor the trace of men ; a solitary exile among 



72 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

rocks and caverns, where beasts and birds alone 
abide. But for me, before he shall have conceived 
these mischiefs in his mind, a happier end will be 
provided." When he had thus prophesied, he 
expired, and was succeeded by his son, Evilmaruchus 
[Evilmerodach], who was slain by his kinsman, 
Neriglisares [Neriglissor], and Neriglisares left a 
son, Labassoarascus [Labarosoarchod]. And when 
he also had suffered death by violence, they made 
Nabannidochus 1 king, being of no relation to the 
royal race. In his reign Cyrus [king of Persia] 
took Babylon, and granted him a principality, [or 
made him a satrap], in Karmania. Now, concerning 
the rebuilding of Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, 
he, [Megasthenes], writes thus : It is said that from 
the beginning all things were water, called the sea 
[Thalath] ; that Belus caused this state of things to 
cease, and appointed to each its proper place, and 
he [Belus] surrounded Babylon with a wall ; but in 
process of time this wall disappeared, and Nabu- 
chodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar] walled it in again, 
and it remained so, with its brazen gates, until the 
time of the Macedonian conquest, [i.e., by Alex- 
ander the Great], and after other things he says : 
Nabuchodonosor having succeeded to the kingdom, 
built the walls of Babylon in a triple circuit in fifteen 
days ; and he turned the river Armacale, 2 a branch 

1 Nabonidus. 

2 Nahar Malcha, or Ar Malcha, i.e., the royal river, or canal. 



cory's ancient fragments. 73 

of the Euphrates and the Acracanus ; and above the 
city of Sippara 1 he dug a receptacle for the waters, 
whose perimeter was forty parasangs, and whose 
depth was twenty cubits ; and he placed gates at 
the entrance thereof, by opening which they irrigated 
the plains, and these they call Echetognomones 
[sluices] ; and he constructed dykes against the 
irruptions of the Erythraean sea], the Persian Gulf] 
and built the city of Teredon against the incursions 
of the Arabs ; and he adorned the palace with trees, 
calling them hanging gardens. — Euseb. Prceb. Evan., 
lib. 10. — Etiseb. Chron. 49. 

End of the Fragments of Megasthenes. 



1 i.e. } Sepharvaim. 



CHALDEAN FRAGMENTS. 



Of the Ark. 



From Nicolaus of Damascus, who lived about 
the time of augustus caesar. 

" There is above Minyas, in the land of Armenia, 
a very great mountain, which is called Baris 1 {i.e. 
a ship) ; to which it is said that many persons re- 
treated at the time of the Flood, and were saved ; 
and that one in particular was carried thither in an 
ark, and was landed on its summit ; and that the 
remains of the vessel were long preserved upon the 
mountain. Perhaps this was the same individual of 
whom Moses, the legislator of the Jews, has made 
mention." — From Josephus' Antiq. of the yews, 
Book i. 3. Eusebius Praep. Evang., 9. 

HESTIAEUS. 

Concerning the Dispersion of Mankind after 
the Flood. . 

" The priests who escaped took with them the im- 
plements of the worship of the Enyalion Jove, and 

1 Epiphanius, one of the. Fathers, calls this mountain 
Lubar ; the Zend-Avesta styles it Al Bordj. 



cory's ancient fragments. 75 

came to Senaar, in Babylonia. But they were again 
driven from thence by the introduction of a diver- 
sity of tongues, upon which they founded colonies in 
various parts, each settling in such situations as 
chance, or the direction of God, led them to occupy." 
— From fosepkus' Antiq. of the Jews ; and Eusebius 
Preparatio Evangelica, 9. 

ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR. 

Concerning the Tower of Babel. 

" The Sibyl says, that when all men formerly spoke 
the same language, some among them undertook to 
erect a large and lofty tower, in order to climb into 
heaven. But God, (or the gods), sending forth a 
whirlwind, frustrated their design and gave to each 
tribe a particular language of its own, which {con- 
fusion of tongtces) is the reason that the name of that 
city is called Babylon." 

"After the Flood, Titan and Prometheus lived, and 
Titan undertook a war against Kronus." — Extracted 
from Syncelhcs, 44. Josephus' Antiq. of Jews, i. 
chap. 4. ; Euseb, Praep. Evang., 9, 

FROM THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES. 

" But when the judgments of Almighty God 
Were ripe for execution ; when the tower 
Rose to the skies upon Assyria's plain, 



j6 cory's ancient fragments. 

And all mankind one language only knew : 

A dread commission from on high was given 

To the fell whirlwinds, which with dire alarms 

Beat on the tower, and to its lowest base 

Shook it convulsed. And now all intercourse, 

By some occult and overruling power, 

Ceased among men. By utterance they strove, 

Perplexed and anxious, to disclose their mind, 

But their lip failed them ; and in lieu of words 

Produced a painful babbling sound : the place 

Was thence called Babel ; by the apostate crew 

Named from the event. Then severed, far away 

They sped, uncertain, into realms unknown : 

Thus kingdoms rose, and the glad world was filled." 

The Sibyl having named Kronus, Titan, and Iape- 
tus (Japheth) as the three sons of the Patriarch 
(Noah), who governed the world in the tenth genera- 
tion, after the Flood, and mentioned the division of 
the world into three parts, (viz, by Shem, Ham, and 
JaphetJi), over which each of the Patriarchs ruled in 
peace, then relates the death of Noah, and the war 
between Kronus and Titan. 

N.B. — The translation given above is from Vol. 
IV. of Bryant's Ancient Mythology. The fragment 
above given is mentioned by Josephus ; and some 
lines are quoted by the Christian Fathers, Athena- 
goras and Theophilus of Antioch. 



cory's ancient fragments. 77 

FROM EUPOLEMUS. 

Concerning the Tower of Babel, and Abraham. 

"The City of Babylon owes its foundation j:o those 
who were saved from the catastrophe of the Flood ; 
these were the giants, (Heb. D^TM = fallen ones), 
and they built the tower which is noticed in history. 
But the tower being overthrown by the interposition 
of God, the giants were scattered over all the earth. 

He says, moreover, that in the tenth generation, 
in the City of Babylonia, called Camarina (which, by 
some, is called the city Urie, and which signifies a 
city of the Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in 
descent, (a man named), Abraham, a man of a noble 
race and superior to all others in. wisdom. 

Of him they relate that he was the inventor of 
astrology and the Chaldean magic, and that on ac- 
count of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God. 
It is further said, that under the directions of God 
he removed and lived in Phoenicia, and there taught 
the Phoenicians the motions of the sun and moon, 
and all other things ; for which reason he was held 
in great reverence by their king. 1 — Extracted from 
Eusebius Praep. Evan., 9. 

1 Abimelech, king of Gerar. 



78 cory's ancient fragments. 

FROM NICOLAS OF DAMASCUS. 

Concerning Abraham. 

"Abram was king of Damascus, and came thither 
as a stranger, with an army, from that part of the 
country which is situated above Babylon of the 
Chaldeans. But after a short time he again emi- 
grated from this region with his people, and trans- 
ferred his dwelling to the land which was at that 
time called Canaaea, but is now called Judaea ; 
together with all the multitude which had increased 
with him, of whose history I shall give an account in 
another book. The name of Abram is well known 
even to this day in Damascus, and a village is 
pointed out which is still called the House of Abra- 
ham." — Extracted from Eusebius, Praep. Evang. 
9, and Josephus, Antiq. of the Jews, i. 7. 



OF ABRAHAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS AND 
OF MOSES AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL. 

From Justin, out of Trogus Pompeius. Book xviii. 
3, 3, 5. Book xxxvi. 2, 3, 6. 

" The origin of the Jews was from Damascus, a 
most famous city of Syria, whence also the Assyrian 
kings, and queen Semiramis sprang. The name of 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 79 

the city was given it from king Damascus, in honour 
of whom the Syrians consecrated the sepulchre of 
his wife Arathis as a temple, and regard her as a 
goddess worthy of the most sacred worship. After 
Damascus, Azelus, 1 and then Adores, Abraham, and 
Israhel were their kings. But a prosperous family 
of ten sons made Israhel more famous than any of 
his ancestors. Having divided his kingdom in con- 
sequence, into ten governments, he committed them 
to his sons, and called the whole people Jews, from 
Judas, who died soon after the division, and ordered 
his memory to be held in veneration by them all, as 
his portion was shared among them. The youngest 
of the brothers was Joseph, whom the others, fearing" 
his extraordinary abilities, secretly made prisoner, 
and sold to some foreign merchants. Being carried 
by them into Egypt, and having there, by his great 
powers of mind, made himself master of the arts of 
magic, he found, in a short time, great favour with the 
king ; for he was eminently skilled in prodigies, and 
was the first to establish the science of interpreting 
dreams. And nothing, indeed, of divine, or human 
law seems to have been unknown to him ; so that he 
foretold a famine or dearth in the land {of Egypt), 
some years before it happened, and all Egypt would 
have perished by famine, had not the king, by his 
advice, ordered the corn to be laid up for several 

1 Hazael, King of Syria. 



80 cory's ancient fragments. 

years : such being the proofs of his knowledge, that 
his admonitions seemed to proceed, not from a 
mortal, but a god. His son was Moses, whom, 
besides the inheritance of his father's knowledge, the 
comeliness of his person also recommended. But 
the Egyptians, being troubled with scabies and 
leprosy, and moved by some oracular prediction, 
expelled him, with those who had the disease, out of 
Egypt, that the distemper might not spread among 
a greater number. Becoming leader, accordingly, of 
the exiles, he carried off by stealth the sacred utensils 
of the Egyptians, who, endeavouring to recover them 
by force of arms, were obliged by tempests to return 
home ; and Moses, having reached Damascus, the 
birth-place of his fore-fathers, took possession of 
Mount Sinai ; on his arrival at which, after having 
suffered, together with his followers, from a seven 
days' fast in the deserts of Arabia, he consecrated 
every seventh day, (according to the present custom 
of the nation), for a fast-day, and to be perpetually 
called a Sabbath, because that day had ended at once 
their hunger and their wanderings. And, as they 
remembered that they had been driven from Egypt 
for fear of spreading infection, they took care, in 
order that they might not become odious, from the 
same cause, to the inhabitants of the country, to have 
no communication with strangers; a rule which, from 
having been adopted on that particular occasion, 
gradually became a custom and part of their religion. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 8 1 

After the death of Moses, his son Aruas 1 was made 
priest for celebrating the rites which they brought 
from Egypt, and soon after created king ; and ever 
afterwards, it was a custom among the Jews to have 
the same chiefs both for kings and priests ; and, by 
uniting religion with the administration of justice, 
it is almost incredible how powerful they became. 
The wealth of the {jfewisli) nation was augmented 
by the duties on balm, (balsam), which is produced 
only in that country; for there is a valley, encircled 
with an unbroken ridge of hills, as it were a wall 
in the form of a camp, the space enclosed being 
about 200 acres, and called by the name of Hieri- 
chus, (Jericho) ; in which valley there is a wood, 
remarkable both for its fertility and pleasant- 
ness, and chequered with groves of palm and 
balm-trees. The balm-trees resemble pitch-trees 2 in 
shape, except that they are not so tall, and are 
dressed after the manner of vines ; and at a certain 
season of the year they exude the balm. But the 
place is not less admired for the genial warmth 
of the sun in it, than for its fertility ; for, though the 
sun in that climate is the hottest in the world, there 
is constantly in this valley a certain natural subdued 
tepidity in the. air. In this country also is the lake 
Asphaltites, which, from its magnitude and the 



Aaron. 2 Pitch-pine. 



82 cory's ancient fragments. 

stillness of its waters, is called the Dead Sea ; for, it 
is neither agitated by the winds, because the bitu- 
minous matter, with which all its water is clogged, 
resists even hurricanes ; nor does it admit of naviga- 
tion, for all inanimate substances sink to the bottom; 
and it will support no wood, except such as is 
smeared with alum." — Extracted from the Philippine 
History of Justin, the Abbreviator of Trogus 
Pompeius. 

CONCERNING BELUS. 

From Eupolemus. 

'* For the Babylonians say that the first was Belus, 
who is the same as Kronus. And from him de- 
scended Belus and Chanaan ; and this Chanaan was 
the father of the Phoenicians. 

" Another of his sons was Khum, (i.e., Ham), who 
is called by the Greeks Asbolus, the father of the 
Ethiopians, and the brother of Mestraim, 1 the father 
of the Egyptians. The Greeks say, moreover, that 
Atlas was the discoverer of astrology." — Extracted 
from Eusebius, Praep. Evang., Book ix. 

From Thallus: 

" Thallus makes mention of Belus, the King of the 
Assyrians, and Kronus, (Saturn) the Titan, and says, 

1 Mizraim. 



cory's ancient fragments. 83 

that Belus, with the Titans, made war against Zeus, 
(Jupiter) and his compeers, who are called gods. He 
says, moreover, that Gygus was smitten, and fled to 
Tartessus (in Spain). 

" According to the history of Thallus, Belus pre- 
ceded the Trojan war 322 years." — From Theophylact 
ad Autolycus, 281-2. 



OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 

From Ktesias. 

"In like manner, all the other kings succeeded, 
the son receiving the empire from his father, being 
altogether thirty in their generations to Sardanapalus. 
In his time the empire passed to the Medes from 
the Assyrians, having remained with them upwards 
of 1,360 years, according to the account of Ktesias 
the Cnidian, in his second book." — Extracted from 
Diodorus Siculus, Book ii. p. yj. 

From Diodorus Siculus. 

" In the manner above related, the empire of the 
Assyrians, after having continued from Ninus thirty 
generations, and more than 1,400 years, was finally 
dissolved by the Medes." — Extracted from Diodortis 
Siculus, Book ii. p. 81. 



84 cory's ancient fragments. 

From Herodotus. 

" The Medes were the first who began the revolt 
from the Assyrians, after they had maintained the 
dominion over Upper Asia for a period of 520 
years." — Extracted from Herodotus, Book i. ch. 95. 



OF NABOPOLLASAR. 

From Alexander Polyhistor. 

" Nabopollasar, (whom Alexander Polyhistor calls 
Sardanapallus), sent to Astyages, the satrap of Media, 
and demanded his daughter, Amuites, 1 in marriage 
for his son, Nabuchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar]. He 
was the commander of the army of Saracus, King 
of the Chaldeans, and, having been sent upon some 
expedition, turned his arms against Saracus, and 
marched against the city of Ninus (Nineveh). But 
Saracus, confused by his approach, set fire to his 
palace, and burnt himself in it. And Nabopollasar 
obtained the empire of the Chaldeans. He was the 
father of Nabuchodonosor" [Nebuchadnezzar]. — 
From Etcsebius' Chronicon, 46. 

1 Amytis. 



cory's ancient fragments. 85 

OF THE CHALDEAN AND ASSYRIAN KINGS. 

From Alexander Polyhistor. 

"In addition to the above, Polyhistor continues thus : 
After the deluge, says he, Evexius held possession 
of the country of the Chaldeans during a period of 
four neri. And he was succeeded by his son, Comos- 
belus, who held the empire four neri and five sossi. 
But, from the time of Xisuthrus 1 and the Flood, to that 
period at which the Medes took possession of Baby- 
lon, there were altogether 86 kings. Polyhistor 
enumerates and mentions each of them by name, 
from the volume of Berossus ; the duration of the 
reigns of all which kings comprehends a period of 
33,091 years. But, when their power was thus firmly 
established, the Medes suddenly levied forces against 
Babylon to surprise it, and to place upon the throne 
kings chosen from among themselves. He, (Poly- 
histor), then gives the names of the Median kings, 
eight in number, who reigned during the period of 
224 years ; and, again, eleven kings during . . . . 2 
years. Then 49 kings of the Chaldeans, 458 years. 
Then nine kings of the Arabians, 245 years. After all 
these successive periods of years, he states that 
Semiramis reigned over the Assyrians. And again 
he minutely enumerates the names of 45 kings, 
assigning to them a term of 526 years. After whom, 

1 Khasis-Adra. 2 No number is given in the original text. 



86 cory's ancient fragments. 

he says, there was a king of the Chaldeans whose 
name was Phulus, of whom also the historical writ- 
ings of the Hebrews make mention under the name 
of Phulus (Pul), who, they say, invaded the country 
of the Jews." — Extracted from the Armenian Chroni- 
con of Eusebius, 39. 

OF SENNACHERIB. 

From Alexander Polyhistor. 

" After the reign of the brother of Senecherib, Akises 
reigned over the Babylonians ; and, when he had 
governed for the space of 30 days, he was slain by 
Marodach Baladanus, who held the empire by force 
during six months ; and he was slain, and succeeded 
by a person named Elibus. 1 But, in the 3rd year of 
his reign, Senecherib, king of the Assyrians, levied 
an army against the Babylonians ; and, in a battle in 
which they were engaged, conquered him and took 
him prisoner, with his adherents, and commanded 
them to be carried off into the land of the Assyrians. 
Having taken upon himself the government of the 
Babylonians, he appointed his son Assordanius, 2 
their king, and he, (Sennacherib), again retired into 
Assyria. 

" When he received a report that the Greeks had 
made a hostile descent upon Cilicia, he marched 

1 Belibus, in the Annals of Sennacherib, of the Bellino 
Cylinder. (See Records of the Past, vol. i., p. 26.) 

2 Esarhaddon. 



cory's ancient fragments. Sy 

against them, and fought with them a pitched battle ; 
in which, though he suffered great loss in his own 
army, he overthrew them, and upon the spot he 
erected the statue of himself as a monument of his 
victory ; and ordered his prowess to be inscribed 
upon it in the Chaldsean characters, to hand down the 
remembrance of it to posterity. He built also the 
city of Tarsus ; after the likeness of Babylon, which 
he called Tharsis. And, after enumerating the vari- 
ous exploits of Sinnecherim, (Sennacherib), he adds 
that he reigned 18 years, and was cut off by a con- 
spiracy, which had been formed against his life by 
his son Ardu-Musanus." — Extracted from Eusebius> 
Armen. Chron., 42. 

OF SENNACHERIB AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 
From Alexander Polyhistor. 

" And after him (Pul), according to Polyhistor, 
Senecherib was king. 

[The Chaldsean historian also makes mention of 
Senecherib himself, and Asordanus (Esarhaddon) 
his son, and Marodach Baladanus, as well as Nabu- 
chodonosorus.] 1 

" And Sinecherim (Sennacherib) reigned 18 years ; 
and after him his son (Esarhaddon) reigned eight 
years. Then Sammuges (Saulmugina ?) reigned 2 1 

1 These remarks, within brackets, are by Eusebius. 



55 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

years, and likewise his brother 21 years. Then 
Nabupalsar, (Nabopollassar), reigned 20 years ; and 
after him Nabucodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), 
reigned 43 years. 

Therefore, from Sinecherim to Nabucodrossorus 
is comprehended a period altogether of 88 years. 
After Samuges, Sardanapallus 1 the Chaldean, reigned 
21 years. He sent an army to the assistance of 
Astyages the Mede, Prince and Satrap of the family, 
that he might give Amunhean, 2 the daughter of 
Astyages, to his son Nabucodrossorus (Nebuchad- 
nezzar). Then Nabucodrossorus reigned 43 years, 
and he came with a mighty army, and led the Jews, 
and Phoenicians, and Syrians into captivity. And 
after Nabucodrossorus, his son, Amilmarudochus, 
(Evil-Merodach — man, i.e., Servant of Merodach), 
reigned 12 years. 

And after him, Neglisarus (Neriglissor), reigned 
over the Chaldaeans 4 years ; and then Nabodenus, 
(Nabonidus), reigned 17 years. In his reign, Cyrus, 
the son of Cambyses, invaded the country of the 
Babylonians. Nabodenus, (Nabonidus), went out to 
give him battle, but was defeated, and betook himself 
to flight ; and Cyrus reigned at Babylon 9 years. 
He was killed, however, in another battle, which 
took place in the plain of Daas. After him Cambyses 

1 Nabopollasar, see p. 84. 2 Amytis. 



cory's ancient fragments. 89 

reigned 8 years ; then Darius 36 years ; and after 
him, Xerxes, and the other kings of the Persian line." 
— Extracted from Euseb. Armen. Ckron., pp. 41, 
42, 44, 45- 



OF SENNACHERIB AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 
From Abydenus. 

" At the same time, the twenty-fifth, who was 
Senecherib, can hardly be recognized among the 
kings. It was he who subjected the city of Babylon 
to his power, and defeated and sunk a Grecian fleet 
upon the coast of Cilicia. He built also a temple at 
Athens, and erected brazen statues, upon which he 
engraved his own exploits. And he built the city of 
Tarsus, after the plan and likeness of Babylon, that 
the river Cydnus should flow through Tarsus, in the 
same manner as the Euphrates intersected Babylon. 
Next in order after him reigned Nergilus (Neri- 
glissor ?), who was assassinated by his son Adra- 
melus, (Adrammelech ?) and he also was slain by 
Axerdes (Sharezer ?), his brother by the same father 
but of a different mother, who pursued his army, 
and shut it up in the city of Byzantium, {lit., of the 
Byzantines). Axerdes was the first that levied 
mercenary soldiers, one of whom was Pythagoras, 
a follower of the wisdom of the Chaldeans ; he also 



90 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

reduced under his dominion Egypt, and the country 
of Coele-Syria, from whence came Sardanapallus. 1 

"After him, Saracus reigned over the Assyrians; 
and when he was informed that a very great multi- 
tude of barbarians had come up from the sea to attack 
him, he sent Busalossorus, as his general, in haste to 
Babylon. But he, having with a treasonable design 
obtained Amuhean, [Amytis], the daughter of Asty- 
ages, the prince of the Medes, to be affianced to his 
son Nabuchodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), marched 
straightway to surprise the city of Ninus, i.e., 
Nineveh. 

" But, when Saracus, the king, was apprized of all 
these proceedings, he burnt the royal palace. 2 And 
Nabuchodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), succeeded to 
the empire, and surrounded Babylon with a strong 
wall." — Extracted from Euseb. Arm. Chron. 53. 

OF BELUS AND THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 
From Castor. 

" Belus, says Castor, was king of the Assyrians ; 
and, under him, the Cyclops assisted Jupiter with 
thunderbolts and lightnings, in his contest with the 
Titans. At that time there were kings of the 

1 The name Sardanapalus being applied to various 
persons leaves it doubtful whether Saracus or Busalossorus, 
{i.e., Nabopollassar), be intended. 

2 Or, entrusted the palace to Egoritus. Doubtful in the 
original, according to the Armenian editor. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 9 1 

Titans, one of whom was Ogygus. (After a short 
digression he proceeds to say,) that the giants, in 
their attempted inroads upon the gods, were slain by 
the assistance of Hercules and Dionysus, 1 who were 
themselves of the Titan race. Belus, whom we have 
mentioned above, was, after his death, esteemed a 
god. After him, Ninus reigned over the Assyrians 
52 years. He married Semiramis, who, after his 
decease, reigned over the Assyrians 42 years. Then 
Zames, (who is the same as Ninyas,) reigned. (Then 
he enumerates each of the successive kings in order, 
and mentions them all, down to Sardanapallus, by 
their respective names : whose names, and the length 
of their reigns, we shall also give presently. Castor 
mentions them in his Canon in the following words) : 
' We have first digested into a Canon the kings of the 
Assyrians, commencing with Belus : but, since we 
have no certain tradition respecting the length of 
his reign, we have merely set down his name, and 
commenced the chronological series from Ninus ; 
and have concluded it with another Ninus, who 
obtained the empire after Sardanapallus ; that, in 
this manner, the whole length of the time, as well 
as of the reign of each king, might be plainly set 
forth. Thus, it will be found, that the complete sum 

1 Dionysus is the Greek name for Bacchus. It is of 
Assyrian origin, being properly ^D^ VH DAYAN-NISI, i.e., 

Judge of Men, ox Rider of Men, a title of the Sun, (Shamas) 
as a deity. 



92 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

of the years amounts to 1280.'" — Extracted from 
Fused. Arm. Ckron., p. 81. 

From Damascius. 
" But the Babylonians, like the rest of the 
Barbarians, pass over in silence the One principle 
of the universe, and they constitute two, Tauthe 
and Apason, making Apason the husband of Tauthe, 
and denominating her the 'mother of the gods.' And, 
from these proceeds an only-begotten son, Moymis, 
which, I conceive, is no other than the intelligible 
world proceeding from the two principles. From 
them, also, another progeny is derived, Dache and 
Dachus ; and again a third, Kissare and Assorus, 
from which last three others proceed, Anus and 
Illinus, and Aus. And of Aus and Davke is born 
a son called Belus, who, they say, is the fabricator of 
the world — the Demiurgus." 1 

From Agathias. 
" But Jupiter they call Belus, and Hercules they 
they call Sandes, 2 and Venus Anaitis, and the rest 
they call differently ; as Berosus the Babylonian, 
and Athenocles and Simacos, among others who 
have written the antiquities of the Assyrians and 
Medes, have related." — De rebus gestis J ustiniani, ed. 
Bonaventurcz, Parisiis, 1650. 

1 For illustration and explanation of this fragment see 
The Chaldaean Account of Genesis, pp. 64, 66. 

2 Samdan in Assyrian. 



THE FRAGMENTS 



THE EGYPTIAN HISTORIES 

CONTAINING 

THE OLD CHRONICLE ; 

THE REMAINS OF MANETHO ; 

AND 

THE LATERCULUS OF ERATOSTHENES, 



INTRODUCTION. 



ABYDENUS 



Was a Greek writer, contemporary with, and disciple 
of Berosus, the Chaldean, about B.C. 268. He 
wrote a history of the Chaldean empire, fragments of 
which are preserved to us in the writings of Euse- 
bius, Cyrillus, and Syncellus. Some regard him as 
the same person as Palaephatus, who was also an 
Abydenus, i.e., a native of the city Abydus. 



MEGASTHENES, 

A Greek historian and geographer, who was sent 
by Seleucus Nicator as ambassador to India, about 
295 B.C. On his return he wrote a book on India, 
which has unfortunately perished, with the exception 
of such fragments as are preserved in the works of 
Strabo, Josephus, and Arrian. The fragments of the 
Indica have been collected and published by Schwan- 
beck, with notes and explanations (Bonn, 1846). They 
are also to be found, with a Latin translation, in 
Miiller s Fragmenta Grczca. 



96 cory's ancient fragments. 



ERATOSTHENES 

Was an African by birth, the pride of Cyrene, as 
Strabo calls him. He reduced two sciences, which 
he found in their infancy, to a system — geography 
and chronology. He was born about 276 B.C., and 
held, under Euergetes, king of Egypt, the honourable 
post of Director of the Alexandrian Library. His 
researches into Egyptian history and chronology 
were undertaken by command of the King, and, con- 
sequently, with every advantage that royal patronage 
could procure. They were more especially devoted 
to the " so-called Theban kings," and were completed 
and edited by Apollodorus, the chronographer. 



APOLLODORUS, 

To whom we are indebted for the preservation of 
some of these precious fragments, was a native of 
Athens, the son of Asclepiades, and pupil of Aris- 
tarchus. He flourished about B.C. 140, and con- 
tinued the chronological researches of Eratosthenes 
of Cyrene. He is styled " the chronographer, Apol- 
lodorus," by Clement, Bishop of Alexandria, and, by 
Diodorus Siculus, he is distinguished as "Apollodorus, 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 97 

who treats of the computation of time." He wrote, 
besides his mythological work called the Biblio- 
theca — of which we possess three entire books — a 
chronicle in iambic verse, comprising a period of 
1040 years from the Trojan war down to his own 
time. He was, in fact, both a chronographer and 
grammarian by profession. Eratosthenes was the 
founder of chronology and geography ; and Apollo- 
dorus, having taken up the interrupted researches of 
Eratosthenes, became the publisher and continuator 
of his work. 



JULIUS AFRICANUS. 

Julius Africanus, or the African, was Bishop of 
Emmaus [Nicopolis], in Judaea, at the beginning of 
the third century. He is regarded as the first editor 
of the Lists of Manetho, and is said to have com- 
piled a chronological work, in five books, all of 
which, excepting only a few fragments, have unfor- 
tunately perished. 

These precious relics have been collected and 
admirably arranged by Routh, in his Reliquice 
Sacrcz, vol. iii. They exhibit throughout the man 
of judgment, integrity, and information ; zealous in 
collecting and examining the oldest Chaldean and 
Egyptian records, especially those of Berosus and 
Manetho. 

G 



98 cory's ancient fragments. 

As he did not attempt the arrangement of a 
system of Annals with a regular notation of syn- 
chronisms, he gave the traditions unadulterated, 
just as he found them, contenting himself with 
proving from their own internal evidence the extra- 
vagance of those myriads of years admitted in the 
computation of his Pagan opponents. 

He would seem, however, to have attempted the 
formation of a scheme of dates, according to the 
scriptural years of the world, with incidental nota- 
tions of synchronisms, in order to bring the Bible- 
history into a certain connection with the Greek 
chronology. We know from Syncellus and a frag- 
ment of Africanus himself, that he assumed the 
year of the world 5500, (which we, following the 
Hebrew text, according to Archbishop Usher, make 
4004), to be that of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. 

This assumption, which upon his authority has 
remained a standard dogma with the Fathers of the 
Greek Church, is, in truth, far preferable to the 
calculations of the Western Churches and those of 
Sir Isaac Newton ; it rests, however, upon wholly 
conjectural grounds. 

According to Africanus, following the Septuagint 
computation, — ■ 

A.M. 

The Flood occurred - 2262 

The Birth of Abraham- - -- - 2302 

Joseph's Death ----- 3563 

The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt 3705 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 99 

A.M. 

Building of Solomon's Temple - - 4457 
First Olympiad after the Exodus 1020 - 4725 
(Contemporaneous with Jotham, 
King of Judah). 
. Beginning of the Reign of Cyrus, King 

of Persia ------ 4942 

(In the first year of the 55th Olympiad). 

The Birth of Christ - 5500 

From this table we see that Africanus, in the 
disputed dates, adheres to the Alexandrian tradi- 
tion ; he, consequently, assumes 215 years for the 
sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt. 

But neither the Bible, nor Josephus, affords the 
least explanation of the 744 years assigned by him 
as the period between the Exodus and the building 
of the Temple. We must, however, take into con- 
sideration that, it is with him a settled thing, that the 
period from the Flood of Ogyges and the reign of 
Phoroneus to the first Olympiad was 1020 years. 
He assigns this same period for the interval between 
Moses and Solomon ; and agrees with Josephus in 
admitting 25 years for Joshua. Africanus fortifies 
himself in. this delusion on the subject of Greek 
synchronisms by two totally inadmissible assump- 
tions. First, by a statement of Polemus, that in 
the time of Apis, son of Phoroneus, a portion of 
the Egyptian army left their own country, and esta- 
blished themselves in Palestine ; and, secondly, by 
a statement in the text of Apion, (resting upon no 



IOO CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

better authority than that of Ptolemy the Mende- 
sian), to the effect that, in the time of Inachus, 1 
under the reign of Amos, Moses led the Israelites 
out of Egypt. This gives us a key to his asser- 
tion in this version of the Lists of Manetho, that 
Moses withdrew from Egypt under Amos, the chief 
of the 1 8th dynasty. But, the above statement of 
Ptolemy the Mendesian rests solely on the assump- . 
tion that Amos destroyed Avaris, the stronghold of 
the Hyk-sos, or Shepherd-Kings. Admitting this, 
the only conclusion to be drawn from it would be, 
that the expulsion of the Hyk-sos from all Egypt 
was ascribed to Amos. From the notices, however, 
contained in Manetho's historical work, we learn, 
that it was the so-called Mephra-Tuthmosis, (whose 
reign cannot be placed earlier than fifth in the list 
of the 1 8th dynasty), who occupied Avaris after his 
convention with the Hyk-sos. It is, however, 
altogether nugatory to confound the Exodus with 
the expulsion of the Hyk-sos. That they were 
even contemporary events seems irreconcilable with 
any traces of historical truth in the Book of Exodus. 
The fatal love of synchronisms exercised an evil 
influence upon the worthy Africanus, and thus pre- 
vented any close examination of Manetho's account. 
■ — Abridged and adapted from Bunsen's Egypt's 
Place in History, pp. 2 1 2 — 2 1 7. 

1 The first king of Argos, B.C. 19 10. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. IOI 



ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR. 

This writer was born in Ionia or Phrygia, and was 
a pupil of the grammarian Krates. On account of 
his great fame as a scholar he obtained the epithet of 
Polyhistor. Captured in the war which the Romans 
waged against Mithridates, king of Pontus, he was 
bought by Cornelius Lentulus, who made him tutor 
to his sons. He received from his master the cogno- 
men of Cornelius, (a custom then in use among the 
Romans) ; and, as a freed-man, became known as 
Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor. He lived at Rome 
in the time of the dictator Sylla, that is about 85 B.C., 
and perished in the flames by which the house of 
Lentulus was destroyed. He was a voluminous 
writer, but unfortunately his works have all perished. 
We are chiefly indebted to the Byzantine writer, 
Suidas, for what little we know of Polyhistor. Stephen 
of Byzantium, (De Urbibus et Populis), says that 
Polyhistor was a native of Cotiaei, a city of Phrygia, 
that he was either a son, or a disciple of Asclepiades, 
and that he wrote forty-two books on all kinds of 
subjects. 

Clemens of Alexandria 1 quotes from the first 
book of a work, " Concerning the Jews;" and Eusebius 



1 Clemens Alex. Stromata, p. 332, ed Sylburg. 



102 Cory's ancient fragments. 

also, speaks of him with the highest praise. 1 
Richter 2 says it cannot be doubted that Pliny is 
greatly indebted to him for much that he relates in 
his Natural History. (Vide Pliny, Historia Nat. iii. 
21, vii. 49, ix. 56, xiii. 39, xvi. 6, xxxyi. 17, edit. 
Harduin.) 

Plutarch and Photius, (cod. 188), have also men- 
tioned Polyhistor ; but we have no proof that Poly- 
histor had himself read the books of Berosus the 
Chaldsean, because he appeals to Apollodorus in 
reference to subjects related by the former. 



SYNCELLUS. 



George the Syncellus, [i.e. the cell-companion), of 
the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, (Byzantium), 
was born about a.d. 800. He is the author of a 
chronography, which extends from the Creation of 
the world down to a.d. 284; His work rests chiefly 
upon the authority of Julius Africanus and Eusebius, 
both of whom he accuses of serious errors. To this 
work — continued down to a.d. 813, by Theophanes 
the I saurian — we are indebted for several fragments 



1 Eusebius, in his Praeparatio Evangelica. Book ix. 1 7. 

2 In his Berosi Chaldaomm Historic^ qua supersunt, 
p. 33. Leipsig, 1825. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. IO3 

of Berosus, Manetho, and other writers whose works 
have long since perished. 

Further information concerning these writers — 
Apollodorus, Eratosthenes, Manetho, Julius Afri- 
canus, and Syncellus — with a critical estimate of 
the value of their respective systems of chronology, 
will be found in the learned work of Baron Bunsen, 
Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. i., to which 
I am greatly indebted. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE LISTS OF 

MANETHO. 



Before the sera of the Ptolemies no native work was 
accessible to the Greeks, either on the doctrine, the 
chronology, or the history of Egypt. Manetho, an 
Egyptian priest, of Sebennytus, undertook to supply 
the deficiency in regard to each of these branches, 
and thereby formed an epoch in the researches of 
the Greeks, and of the Egyptians themselves. His 
historical work comprised a period of 3,555 years, 
from Menes, the first human monarch of Egypt, 
down to Alexander the Great. " The period," says 
Syncellus, " of the hundred and thirteen generations, 
described by Manetho in his three volumes, com- 
prises a sum total of three thousand five hundred 
and fifty-five years ;" that is, from the time of Menes 
to the death of the younger Nectanebo, the last of 
the native kings of Egypt. Of this period, thirteen 
centuries belonged to the Old Empire, nine to the 
Middle, and thirteen to the New. Manetho, whose 
Egyptian name was clearly Manethoth — i.e., Ma-n- 
thoth — ■" he who was given by Thoth," (the Mercury 
or Hermes of the Egyptians,) is known to ancient 
authors as a priest of Sebennytus, living in high 
estimation at the court of the first Ptolemy, the son 
of Lagus, surnamed Soter. It is probable that 
Manetho also lived under Ptolemy Philadelphus II., 
since the authors of the Apotelesmata, and the Book 



cory's ancient fragments. 105 

of Sothis, or the Dog-star, who usurped his name, 
dedicated their forgery to that king. 

Manetho, the Egyptian scholar and priest, evi- 
dently owes his high reputation to the merit of being 
the first who distinguished himself as a writer and 
critic upon religion and philosophy, as well as chro- 
nology and history ; using the Greek language, but 
drawing his materials from native sources, especially 
the Sacred Books of his nation. "Manetho, the Egyp- 
tian," says Eusebius, "not only reduced the whole 
Egyptian history into a Greek form, but also their 
entire system of theology, in his treatise, entitled 
' The Sacred Book,' as well as in other works." 

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, 1 in the second quarter 
of the fifth century, describes Manetho (Sermon ii. 
de Therapeut), as " the author of a mythological 
work, or works, concerning Isis and Osiris, Apis and 
Serapis, and the other Egyptian deities." Manetho 
is also quoted by Plutarch, ^Elian, Diogenes Laer- 
tius, and Suidas. This distinguished historian, sage, 
and scholar — the man whom all our ancient authori- 
ties mention with respect, is become almost a mytho- 
logical personage ; and his works, with the exception 
of a few fragments, have been swept away by the 
destructive hand of time. What the school of 
Aristotle had prepared, and Manetho, under Greek 

1 Or Cyropolis, in Syria, a city built by the Jews in 
honour of, and in gratitude to, Cyrus, as the liberator of 
their nation from Babylonian servitude. 



106 cory's ancient fragments. 

auspices, but with Egyptian learning, had matured, 
Eratosthenes of Cyrene, and Apollodorus of Athens 
carried to perfection ; so that, by their efforts, the 
chronology of Egypt became the common property 
of mankind. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the 
labours of Apollodorus except the number of kings 
for the middle Empire ; while Eratosthenes' s register 
of the earlier Pharaohs has reached us only in a 
meagre epitome. To George Syncellus of Byzan- 
tium, (Constantinople), we are indebted for an extract 
from a work of Eratosthenes devoted to the subject 
of Egyptian chronology, which he introduces with 
the following prefatory remarks : — " Apollodorus, 
the chronographer, has described another dynasty of 
Egyptian kings, called Thebans, thirty-eight in num- 
ber, whose united reigns comprised 1,076 years. 
This succession extends from the year of the world. 
2900 (or, according to Syncellus, from the 124th 
year after the Confusion of Tongues), to the year 
3975. Eratosthenes, (as stated by Apollodorus), 
compiled his notices of these kings from Egyptian 
monuments and lists, by order of the King, and 
arranged their names — each with its Greek transla- 
tion — in the following order." Then follows a List of 
Kings beginning with Menes — every Egyptian name 
with its Greek translation annexed. The number of 
years for each reign is also subjoined. Thus we 
have a list of Egyptian kings, drawn up by Era- 
tosthenes, and edited by Apollodorus, the chrono- 



cory's ancient fragments. 107 

grapher ; beginning with Menes, and containing 
thirty-eight reigns in 1,076 years — the editor him- 
self added to it another list of fifty-three kings, in 
continuity of succession. But, having, like Josephus, 
and all the Christian chronographers, placed Moses 
and the Exodus at the beginning of the eighteenth 
dynasty, what, then, was to be done with the other 
fifty-three kings who reigned before the eighteenth 
dynasty ? It is, then, to this circumstance that we 
are indebted for the copious extracts from Manetho's 
historical work of the names of the kings of that 
dynasty. Eratosthenes began his labours with 
Menes, and, no doubt, concluded them with some 
notable epoch — some important historical crisis. 
This event was unquestionably the invasion of the 
Shepherds, and the occupation of the Egyptian throne 
by the Shepherd-kings, (the Hyk-sos) ; for the whole 
history of Egypt turned upon this event, as proved 
by the monuments and attested by Manetho. 

Eratosthenes, therefore, must be our guide for the 
chronology of the Old Empire, so long as his data 
are in harmony with those derived from the monu- 
ments. The Old Empire terminated with the third 
king of the thirteenth dynasty ; the occupation of 
the throne of Memphis by the Shepherd-kings was 
the commencement of the Middle Empire, and their 
expulsion that of the New. For the Middle Empire 
we must follow Apollodorus of Athens, for, if the 
lists of kings furnished by Eratosthenes embraced 



108 cory's ancient fragments. 

the Old Empire, Apollodorus must have commenced 
with the Middle Empire, for his fifty-three kings 
follow immediately upon those of Eratosthenes. Nor 
can there be any reasonable doubt as to the extent 
of the period they occupied. Syncellus did not deign 
to transcribe their names, because they appeared to 
him utterly useless. The names of the kings of the 
eighteenth Dynasty consequently were not among 
them, for he was not only well acquainted with those, 
but considered them of the greatest importance. 
Syncellus subjected this Dynasty, (the eighteenth,) to 
a very careful analysis, because the birth of Moses 
and the Exodus were connected with it. The 
labours of Apollodorus did not, therefore, extend to 
the New Empire. Such an hypothesis were indeed, 
as Bunsen remarks, hardly in itself admissible, for 
Manetho assigns, at most, fifty-seven Theban kings 
of the thirteenth Dynasty to this period, and those 
of Apollodorus are also expressly called Thebans. 
Lastly, the correspondence between the number fifty- 
three in Apollodorus, and fifty-seven in Manetho, 
were as close as could reasonably be expected or 
desired as an argument in favour of their identity of 
period. Everything, therefore, combines, as Bun- 
sen states, to show the probability of our having 
discovered the true system of Eratosthenes and 
Apollodorus, and with it a key to the right under- 
standing of the Lists of Manetho. — Bunsen s Egypt's 
Place in History, 142-144, et passim. 



M A N E T H O. 



Of the Writing of Manetho. 
if It remains, therefore, to make certain extracts con- 
cerning the dynasties of the Egyptians, from the 
writings of Manetho, the Sebennyte, the high-priest 
of the idolatrous temples of Egypt, in the time of 
Ptolemaeus Philadelphus. These, according to his 
own account, he copied from the inscriptions which 
were engraved, in the sacred dialect and hierographic 
characters, upon the columns set up in the Seriadic 
land by Thoth, the first Hermes, (Mercury) ; and 
after the Flood, were translated from the sacred dia- 
lect into the Greek tongue, in hieroglyphic characters, 
and committed to writing in books, and deposited by 
Agathodsemon, the son of the second Hermes, the 
father of Tat, (Taut of the Phoenician mythology), 
in the penetralia of the temples of Egypt. He has 
addressed and explained them to Philadelphus, the 
second king (of Egypt) who bore the name of Ptole- 
maeus, in the book which he has entitled Sothis, (or 
the Dog-star)." This epistle is as follows : — 

The Epistle of Manetho, 1 the Sebennyte, 
to Ptolemy Philadelphus. 
" To the great and august King, Ptolemy Philadel- 
phus : Manetho, the High-priest and Scribe of the 

1 This Epistle is now generally regarded as that of the 
pseudo-Manetho ; not the Manetho who wrote the lists of 
kings, but one who assumed and abused his name. 



IIO CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

sacred adyta in Egypt, being by birth a Sebennyte 
and a citizen of Heliopolis, to his sovereign Ptolemy, 
humbly greeting : 

" It is right for us, most mighty King, to pay due 
attention to all things which it is your pleasure we 
should take into consideration. In answer, then, to 
your inquiries concerning the things which shall 
come to pass in the world, I shall, according to your 
commands, lay before you what I have gathered 
from the sacred books written by Hermes Trisme- 
gistus, our forefather. Farewell, my Prince and 
Sovereign." — Syncel. Chron. 40. — Euseb. Chron. 



M A N E T H O. 



THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES. 

The Dynasty of the Demigods, 

The i st of the Egyptian kings was Hephaestus, 
(Vulcan), who reigned 724 and a half years and four 
days. 

The 2nd was Helios {i.e. the Sun), the son of 
Hephaestus {who reigned) 86 years. 

3rd, Agathodaemon, who reigned 56 and a half 
years and ten days. 

4th, Kronus (Saturn) 40 and a half years. 

5 th, Osiris and I sis, 35 years. 

6th, . . . years. 

7th, Typhon, 29 years. 

8th, Horus, the demigod, 25 years. 

6th, Ares (Mars), the demigod, 23 years. 

10th, Anubis, the demigod, 17 years. 

nth, Heracles {i.e. Hercules) the demigod, 15 
years. 

1 2 th, Apollo, the demigod, 25 years. 

13th, Ammon, the demigod, 30 years. 

14th, Tithoes, the demigod, 27 years. 

15th, Sosus, the demigod, 32 years. 

1 6th, Zeus, [i.e., Jupiter], the demigod, 20 years. — - 
Syncel. Chron. 19. — Euseb. Chro?i. 7. 



I I 2 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES AFTER THE 
DELUGE. 

The First Dynasty. 

i. After the dead demigods, the first dynasty con- 
sisted of eiofht kings, of whom the first was Menes 
the Thinite ; he reigned 62 years, and perished by a 
wound received from a hippopotamus. 

2. Athothis, his son, reigned 57 years; he built 
the palaces at Memphis, and left the anatomical 
books, for he was a physician. 

3. Kenkenes, his son, reigned 31 years. 

4. Venephes, his son, reigned 23 years. In his 
time a great plague raged through Egypt. He 
erected the pyramids near Cochome. 

5. Usaphsedus, his son, reigned 20 years. 

6. Miebidus, his son, reigned 26 years. 

7. Semempsis, his son, reigned 18 years. In his 
reign a terrible pestilence afflicted Egypt. 

8. Bieneches, his son, reigned 26 years. 

The whole number of years amounted to 253 [or 
263, according to the true reckoning]. 

The Second Dynasty 

Consisted of nine Thinite kings. 

1. Boethus the First reigned 38 years. During 
his reign a chasm of the earth opened near Bubas- 
tus, and many persons perished. 

2. Kaeachos reigned 39 years. Under him the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 1 3 

bulls, Apis in Memphis, and Meneus, (Mnevis), in 
Heliopolis, and the Mendesian goat, were appointed 
to be gods. 

3. Binothris reigned 47 years. In his time it was 
decided that women might hold the imperial govern- 
ment. 

4. Tlas reigned 17 years. 

5. Sethenes reigned 41 years. 

6. Chaeres (reigned) 17 years. 

7. Nephercheres (reigned) 25 years. In his time 
it is said that the Nile flowed with honey during 
eleven days. 

8. Sesochris, whose height was five cubits and his 
breadth three, (reigned) 48 years. 

9. Cheneres 30 years. 

The whole number of years is 302. 

The Third Dynasty, 

Of nine Memphite kings. 

1. Necherophes reigned 28 years. In his time 
the Libyans revolted from the Egyptians ; but, on 
account of an unexpected increase of the moon, they 
surrendered themselves for fear. 

2. Tosorthrus reigned 29 years. He is called 
Asclepius [i.e., Aesculapius], by the Egyptians, for 
his medical knowledge. He built a house of hewn 
stones, and greatly patronised writing. 

3. Tyris reigned 7 years. 

H 



I 1 4 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS, 

4. Mesochris 17 years. 

5. Soiphis [or, Souphis] 16 years, 

6. Tosertasis 19 years. 

7. Achis [or, Aches] 42 years. 

8. Siphuris 30 years. 

9. Kerpheres 26 years. 
Altogether 214 years. 

The Fourth Dynasty, 

Of eight Memphite kings of a different race. 

1. Soris reigned 29 years. 

2. Suphis reigned 63 years. He built the largest 
pyramid. He was also called Peroptes, and was 
translated to the gods, and wrote the sacred book. 

3. Suphis (or Cheops) reigned 66 years. 

4. Mencheres (Men-ke-ra) 63 years. 

5. Ratoeses 25 years. 

6. Bicheres 22 years. 

7. Sebercheres 7 years. 

8. Thamphthis 9 years. 

Altogether 274 years -[or 284, according to the 
correct computation.] 

The Fifth Dynasty, 

Consisting of nine Elephantine kings, 

1. Usercheris reigned 28 years. 

2. Sephres 13 years. 

3. Nephercheres 20 years. 



CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I I 5 

4. Sisiris 7 years. 

5. Cheres 20 years. 

6. Rathuris 44 years. 

7. Mencheres 9 years. 

8. Tarcheres [or, Tatcheres] 44 years. 

9. Obnos [or, Onnos] 33 years. 
Altogether 248 years [or, 218 years.] 

The Sixth Dynasty, 

Consisting of six Memphite kings. 

1 . Othoes, 30 years, who was killed by his guards. 

2. Phius reigned 53 years. 

3. Methusuphis 7 years. 

4. Phiops, who began to reign at six years of age, 
and reigned till he had completed his hundredth year. 

5. Menthesuphis reigned one year. 

6. Nitocris, who was the most handsome woman 
of her time, of a fair complexion ; she built the 
third pyramid, and reigned 12 years. 

Altogether 203 years. 

The Seventh Dynasty, 
Of seventy Memphite kings, who reigned 70 days. 

The Eighth Dynasty, 

Of twenty- seven Memphite kings, who reigned 
146 years, 



I 1 6 cory's ancient fragments. 

The Ninth Dynasty, 

Of nineteen Heracleotic kings, who reigned 409 
years. 

1. The first was Achthoes, the worst of all his 
predecessors. He did much harm to all the inhabi- 
tants of Egypt, was seized with madness, and killed 
by a crocodile. 

The Tenth Dynasty, 

Consisting of nineteen Heracleotic kings, who 
reigned 185 years. 

The Eleventh Dynasty, 

Consisting of sixteen Diospolite, (or Theban), 
kings, who reigned 43 years. 

Among them Ammenemes, who reigned 16 years. 

The sum total of the above-named kings is 192, 
who reigned 2,308 years and 70 days. — From Syn- 
cellus Ckronicon, 54 to 59 — Eitseb. Chron., 14 and 15. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF MANETHO. 



The Twelfth Dynasty, 

Of seven Diospolite, (or Theban), kings. 

i. Geson Goses [or, Sesonchosis ; or, Sesortosis; 
or, Sesortosis], the son of Ammanemes. He reigned 
46 years. 

2. Ammanemes reigned 38 years. He was slain 
by his eunuchs. 

3. Sesostris 41 [or, 48] years. He conquered all 
Asia in nine years, and Europe as far as Thrace ; 
everywhere erecting monuments of his conquests of 
those nations ; statues of men among nations who 
acted bravely, but among the degenerate he erected 
figures of women, engraving their sexual organs 
upon the pillars. By the Egyptians he is supposed 
to be the first after Osiris. 

4. Lachares 8 years, who built the Labyrinth in 
Arsenoite [ sic] as a tomb for himself. 

5. Ammeres reigned 8 years. 

6. Ammenemes 8 years. 

7. Skemiophris, his sister, 4 years. 
Altogether 1 60 years. 

The Thirteenth Dynasty 

Consisted of 60 Diospolite, (or Theban), kings, 
whose names are lost. They reigned 453 years 
[according to the Armenian copy of Eusebius). 



116 corys ancient fragments. 

The Fourteenth Dynasty. 

Consisting of 76 Xoite kings, who ruled 184 [or, 
484] years. (The number 484 is from the Armenian 
version of Eusebius.) 

The names are entirely lost. 

The Fifteenth 1 Dynasty 
Of the Hyk-shos or Shepherd-Kings. 
There were six foreign, i.e., Phoenician or 
Canaanitish kings. This dynasty took Memphis, 
and built a city in the Sethroite nome, whence they 
made an invasion, and conquered all Egypt. Of 
these — 

1. Saites [or, Salatis] reigtaed 19 years, after whom 
the Saite nome or district is called. 

2. Beon [or, Bnon] reigned 44 years. 

3. Pachnan [or, Apachnas] 61 years. 

4. Staan 50 years. 

5. Archies [or, Assis] 49 years. 

6. Aphobis [or, Apophis] 61 years. 
Altogether 284 years. 

The Sixteenth Dynasty 
Of 32 Grecian shepherds, who reigned 518 years. 

The Seventeenth Dynasty 
Consisted of 43 shepherd-kings and 43 Thebans, 
[or, Diospolites.] 

1 This is the Seventeenth Dynasty according to Eusebius. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 119 

The Shepherds and Thebans reigned altogether 
151 years. 

The Eighteenth Dynasty, 

Of sixteen Diospolite, (or, Theban), kings. 

1. Amos ; in whose time Moses went forth from 
Egypt, as we have shown. 

2. Chebros 13 years. 

3. Amenophthis 24 years. 

4. Amersis [or, Amensis] 22 years. 

5. Misaphris 13 years. 

6. Misphragmuthosis 26 years, in whose time the 
Flood of Deucalion happened. 

7. Tuthmosis reigned 9 years. 

8. Amenophis 31 years. He is supposed to be 
the Memnon, to whom the musical statue 1 (in Egypt) 
was erected. 

9. Horus reigned 37 years. 

10. Acherrhes [or, Akenchres] 32 years. 

1 1 . Rathos [or, Rathotis] 6 years. 

12. Chebres 12 years. 

1 3. Acherrhes [or, Akenchres] 1 2 years. 

14. Armesses [or, Armais] 5 years. 

15. Ramesses 1 year. 

16. Amenoph [or, Amenophath] 19 years. 
Altogether. 263 [or, 259]. 

1 The researches of Pococke and Hamilton have long 
since proved this to be the Memnon of the Ancients, while 
the hieroglyphic labours of Champollion have established 
the claims of Amenoph to the statues he erected. 



120 cory's ancient fragments. 

The Nineteenth Dynasty, 

Consisted of seven Diospolite, (or Theban), kings, 
i. Sethos reigned 51 years. 

2. Rapsakes [or, Rampses] 61 years. 

3. Ammenephthes 20 years. 

4. Rameses 60 years. 

5. Ammenemnes [or, Ammenemes] 5 years. 

6. Thuoris, who is called by Homer, Polybus. 

7. Alcandrus, 7 years, in whose time I lion, (i.e., 
Troy), was taken. 

Altogether 209 years. 

In this second book of Manetho are contained 
96 kings, and 2 121 years. — Syncel. Chron. 59 to 75. 
■ — Euseb. Chron. 15 to 17. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF MANETHO. 



The Twentieth Dynasty, 
Of 1 2 Diospolite, (or Theban), kings, who reigned 



135 years. 



The Twenty-first Dynasty, 



Of seven Tanite kings. 

1. Smedes [or, Smendes] reigned 26 years. 

2. Psusenes, or Psuneses, 46 years. 

3. Nephercheres 4 years. 

4. Amenophthis 9 years. 

5. Osochor 6 years. 

6. Psinaches 9 years. 

7. Susenes [or, Psusennes] 30 years. 
Altogether 130 years. 

The Twenty-Second Dynasty, 

Of nine Bubastite kings. 

1. Sesonchis (or Shishak) x 21 years. 

2. Osoroth [or, Osorthon] 1 5 years. 

3. 4, 5. Three others reigned 25 years. 

1 See 1 Kings xi. 40, 



122 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

6. Takellothis 1 13 years. 

7, 8, 9. Three others 42 years. 
Altogether reigned 1 20 years. 

The Twenty-third Dynasty, 

Of four Tanite kings! 

1. Petoubates reigned 40 years, in whose time the 
Olympiads began. ' 

2. Osorcho 8 years, whom the Egyptians call 
Hercules. 

3. Psammus 10 years. 

4. Zeet 31 years. 
Altogether 89 years. 

The Twenty-fourth Dynasty. 

Bocchoris, [or Bonchoris], the Saite, reigned 6 
years, in whose reign (a miracle occurred), for a 
sheep spoke. 

Total 990 years. 

The Twenty-fifth Dynasty, 

Consisted of 3 Ethiopic kings. 
1. Sabbakon, who having taken Bocchoris captive, 
burnt him alive, and reigned 8 years. 



1 Perhaps Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, or some one 
ruling as a tributary to the Assyrian monarch. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 23 

2. Sevechus, 1 his son, who reigned 14 years. 

3. Tarkos, or Tarakos [Tirhakah], 2 18 years. 
Altogether 40 years. 

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 

Consisting of 9 Saite kings. 
1. Stephinates reigned J years. 
2.' Nechepsos reigned 6 years. 

3. Nechao (or Necho) 8 years. 

4. Psammitichus 54 years. 

5. Nechao, (or Necho), the 2nd reigned 6 years. 
He took Jerusalem, and carried away captive Joahaz, 
the king, to Egypt. 

6. Psammuthis 6 years. 

7. Vaphris (or Hophra) 19 years, to whom the 
remainder of the Jews fled when Jerusalem was 
taken by the Assyrians. 

8. Amosis 44 years. 

9. Psammacherites 3 6 months. 
Altogether 1 50 years and six months. 

The Twenty-seventh Dynasty, 

Of eight Persian kings. 

1. Cambyses reigned over Persia, his own king- 
dom, 5 years, and over Egypt 6 years. -, 

1 Called So, or Seve, in 2 Kings xvii. 4. 

2 2 Kings xix. 9. 

3 Eusebius omits the last king, and inserts Ammeres at 
the beginning as the first. 



124 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

2. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, 36 years. 

3. Xerxes the Great 21 years. 

4. Artabanus 7 months. 1 

5. Artaxerxes 41 years. 

6. Xerxes 2 months. 

7. Sogdianus 7 months. 

8. Darius, the son of Xerxes, 1 9 years. 
Altogether 124 years and four months. 

The Twenty-eighth Dynasty. 
Amyrteos, the Saite, reigned 6 years. 

The Twenty-ninth Dynasty, 

Consisting of four Mendesian kings. 

1. Nepherites reigned 6 years. 

2. Achoris 13 years. 

3. Psammuthis 1 year. 

4. Nephorites 4 months. 

5. Muthis 1 year. 

Altogether 20 years and four months. 

The Thirtieth Dynasty, 

Consisting of three Sebennyte kings. 
1. Nectanebes reigned 18 years. 



1 Eusebius omits Artabanus, and between Cambyses and 
Darius places the Magi, with a reign of seven months. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 25 

2. Teos 2 years. 

3. Nectanebos 18 years. 
Altogether 38 years. 

The Thirty-first Dynasty, 

Consisting of three Persian kings. 

1. (Darius) Ochus, who ruled Persia 20 years and 
Egypt two years. 

2. Arses, or Arses Ochus, (or Artaxerxes), reigned 
3 years. 

3. Darius 4 years. 
Altogether 9 years. 
Total 1,050 years. 

From Syncell. Chron. 73 to 78 and Euseb. Chron. 
16, 17. 



Note by the Editor. For the different readings of the 
royal names, the length of their respective reigns, and 
the sum total of the years, which are often divergent, I 
must refer the student to Vol. i. of Dr. Birch's edition of 
Bunsen's Egypt's Place in History, Appendix, p. 642 — 736, 
where, in Greek and Latin, will be found the lists of Syn- 
cellus, Eusebius, Eratosthenes, and others. 



MANETHO. 



Of the Shepherd- Kings. 

" We had formerly a king whose name was Timaus. 
In his time it came to pass, I know not how, that 
God was displeased with us : and there came up from 
the East, in a strange manner, men of an ignoble 
race, who had the confidence to invade our country, 
and easily subdued it by their power, without a 
battle. And, when they had our rulers in their 
hands, they burnt our cities, and demolished the 
temples of the gods, and inflicted every kind of 
barbarity upon the inhabitants, slaying some, and 
reducing the wives and children of others to a state 
of slavery. At length they made one of themselves 
king, whose name was Salatis : he lived at Mem- 
phis, and rendered both the upper and lower regions 
of Egypt tributary, and stationed garrisons in places 
which were best adapted for that purpose. But he 
directed his attention principally to the security of 
the eastern frontier ; for he regarded with suspicion 
the increasing power of the Assyrians, who, he fore- 
saw, would one day undertake an invasion of the 
kingdom. And, observing in the Saite nome, upon 
the east of the Bubastite channel, a city which from 
some ancient theological reference was called Avaris ; 



cory's ancient fragments. 127 

and finding it admirably adapted to his purpose, he 
rebuilt it, and strongly fortified it with walls, and 
garrisoned it with a force of two hundred and fifty 
thousand armed men. To this city Salatis repaired 
in summer time, to collect his tribute, and pay his 
troops, and to exercise his soldiers, in order to strike 
terror into foreigners. 

And Salatis died after a reign of nineteen years ; 
after him reigned Beon forty-four years ; and he was 
succeeded by Apachnas, who reigned thirty-six years 
and seven months ; after him reigned Apophis sixty- 
one years, and Ianias fifty years and one month. 
After all these reigned Assis forty-nine years and 
two months. These six were the first rulers amongst 
them, and, during all the period of their dynasty, 
they made war upon the Egyptians, in hope of 
exterminating the whole race. All this nation was 
styled Hyk-shos, that is, the Shepherd- Kings ; for 
the first syllable, Hyk, according to the sacred 
dialect, denotes king, and sos signifies a shepherd ; 
but this according to the vulgar tongue ; and, of 
these two words is compounded the term Hyk-shos, 
whom some say were Arabians. This people, thus 
denominated Shepherd- Kings, and their descendants 
retained possession of Egypt for the space of 5 1 1 
years. 

After these things, he (Manetho), relates that the 
kings of Theba'is, and of the other parts of Egypt, 
made an insurrection against the Shepherds ; and, 



128 cory's ancient fragments. 

that a long and mighty war was carried on between 
them, till the Shepherds were subdued by a king 
whose name was Alisphragmuthosis ; and, that they 
were by him driven out of the rest of Egypt, and 
shut up within a space containing ten thousand acres, 
which was called Avaris. All this tract of country, 
(says Manetho), the Shepherds surrounded with a 
vast and strong wall, that they might retain all their 
possessions and their booty within a fortress. 

And Thummosis, the son of Alisphragmuthosis, 
endeavoured to force them by a siege, and beleaguered 
the place with a body of four hundred and eighty 
thousand men ; but, at the moment when he despaired 
of reducing them by siege, they agreed to a capitu- 
lation, that they would leave Egypt, and should be 
permitted to go out, without molestation, whereso- 
ever they pleased. And, according to this stipulation, 
they departed from Egypt with all their families and 
effects, in number not less than two hundred and 
forty thousand, and bent their way through the 
desert towards Syria. But, as they stood in fear of 
the Assyrians, who had then dominion over Asia, 
they built a city, in that country which is now called 
Judaea, of sufficient size to contain this multitude of 
men, and named it Jerusalem. 

(In another book of the Egyptian histories, 
Manetho says), That this people, who are here called 
Shepherds, in their sacred books were also styled 
Captives. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 29 

After the departure of this nation of Shepherds 
to Jerusalem, Tethmosis, the king of Egypt, who 
drove them out, reigned twenty-five years and four 
months, and then died ; after him his son, Chebron, 
took the government into his hands for thirteen 
years ; after him reigned Amenophis for twenty 
years and seven months ; then his sister Amesses, 
21 years and nine months. 

She was succeeded by Mephres, who reigned 12 
years and nine months ; after him Mephramuthosis, 
who reigned 25 years and 10 months ; then Thmosis, 
who reigned nine years and eight months ; after 
whom Amenophis reigned 30 years and 10 months ; 
then Orus (Horus), who reigned 36 and five months ; 
then his daughter Akenchres, who reigned 12 years 
and one month ; and after her, Rathotis for nine 
years ; then Akencheres 1 2 years and five months, 
and another Akencheres 1 2 years and three months ; 
after him, Armais reigned four years and one month ; 
and Ramesses (the Great) one year and four months ; 
then Armesses, (i.e., Ramses), the son of Miammoun, 
who reigned 66 years and two months ; after him 
Amenophis for 19 years and six months; he was 
succeeded by Sethosis, who is called Ramesses, who 
maintained an army of cavalry and a naval force. 

This king, (Sethosis), appointed his brother Armais 
as his viceroy over Egypt. He also invested him 
with all the other authority of a king, but with the 

following restrictions, viz. — 1st, That he should not 

1 



130 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

wear the crown ; 2nd, Nor interfere with the queen, 
the mother of his children ; 3rd, Nor abuse the 
royal concubines. Sethosis then made an expedi- 
tion against the island of Cyprus, and Phoenicia, and 
waged war with the Assyrians and Medes ; and he 
subdued them all, some by force of arms, and others 
without a blow, by the mere terror of his power. 
And being puffed up with his success, he advanced 
still more confidently, and overthrew the cities, and 
subdued the countries of the East. 

But Armais, who was left in Egypt, took advan- 
tage of the opportunity, and fearlessly committed all 
those acts which his brother had enjoined him not to 
do ; he violated the queen, and continued an un- 
restrained intercourse with the concubines, and, at 
the persuasion of his friends, he assumed the 
diadem, and openly opposed his brother. 

But the ruler over the priests of Egypt sent to 
Sethosis, and informed him of what had happened, 
and how his brother had set himself up in opposition 
to his power. Upon this Sethosis immediately re- 
turned to Pelusium, and recovered his kingdom. 
The country of Egypt took its name from Sethosis, 
who was called also yEgyptus, as was his brother 
Armais known by the name of Danaus." 1 — Joseph, 
contr. Ap. lib. I. c. 14, 15. 

1 Danaus was the first king of the Argives. 



cory 5 ancient fragments. 13 i 

Of the Israelites. 

" This king, (Amenophis), was desirous of behold- 
ing the gods, since Horus, one of his predecessors in 
the kingdom had seen them. He communicated his 
desire to a priest of the same name with himself, 
Amenophis, the son of Papis ; one who seemed to 
partake of the divine nature, both in his wisdom and 
in his knowledge of futurity. 

Amenophis returned him for answer, that he 
might behold the gods if he would cleanse the land 
of all lepers, and other unclean persons that were in 
it. Well pleased with this information, the king 
gathered together out of the land of Egypt all that 
laboured under any defect of body, to the number of 
80,000, and sent them to the quarries, (in the Mafra, 
or, Sinaitic peninsula), which are situated on the east 
side of the Nile, that they might work in them, and 
be separated from the rest of the Egyptians. 

And he, (Manetho), says, there were among them 
some learned priests who were (also) infected with 
the leprosy. And Amenophis, the wise man and 
prophet, fearing lest the vengeance of the gods 
should fall, both on himself and on the king, should 
it appear that violence had been used towards them, 
added this also in a prophetic spirit ; — that certain 
people would come to the assistance of these pol- 
luted wretches, and would subdue Egypt, and hold 
it in possession for thirteen years. These tidings 



I32 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

however he dared not to communicate to the king, 
but left in writing: an account of what should come 
to pass, and destroyed himself; at which the king 
was fearfully distressed. 

' (After which, he writes thus, word for word) : 
When those that were sent to work in the quarries 
had continued for some time in that miserable state, 
the king was petitioned to set apart for their habita- 
tion and protection the city Avaris, which had been 
left desolate by the Shepherds ; and he granted 
them their desire : now this city, according to the 
ancient theology, is a Typhonian 1 city. 

When these men had taken possession of the city, 
and found it well adapted for a revolt, they appointed 
over themselves a ruler out of the priests of Helio- 
polis, 2 one whose name was Osarsiph, 3 and they 
bound themselves by oath that they would be obe- 
dient. Osarsiph then, in the first place enacted this 
law, that they should neither worship the \Egyptiaii\ 
gods, nor abstain from {eating) any of those sacred 
animals which the Egyptians hold in the highest 
veneration, but sacrifice and slay them all ; and that 

1 Typhon was. the Ahriman, or Satan, of the Egyptian 
theology. "Down to the time of Rameses, B.C. 1300, he 
was one of the most venerated and powerful gods. After 
about 970 B.C. he was regarded as the foe of Osiris and all 
the gods of Egypt." — BUNSEN'S Egypt's Place, vol. i., p. 456. 

2 Called On in Genesis xli. 45, 50 ; An in Egyptian. 

3 By Osarsiph he means Moses, the Jewish lawgiver and 
deliverer. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 33 

they should connect themselves with none but such 
as were of that confederacy. When he had made 
such laws as these, and many others of a tendency 
directly in opposition to the customs of the Egyp- 
tians, he gave orders that they should employ the 
multitude of hands in rebuilding the walls about the 
city (Avaris), and hold themselves in readiness for 
war with Amenophis the king ; whilst he (Osarsiph) 
took into his confidence and counsels some others 
of the priests and unclean persons. He then sent 
ambassadors to the city called Jerusalem; to those 
Shepherds who had been expelled by Tethmosis, 1 
whereby he informed them of the affairs of 
himself, and of the others who had been treated in 
the same ignominious manner, and requested they 
would come with one consent, to his assistance in 
this war against Egypt. He also promised in the 
first place to reinstate them in their ancient city and 
country, Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance 
for their numerous host, and fight for them as occa- 
sion might require. He informed them, moreover, 
that they could easily reduce the land (of Egypt) 
under their dominion. The Shepherds received 
this message with the greatest joy, and quickly mus- 
tered to the number of 200,000 men, and came up 
to Avaris. Now Amenophis, king of Egypt, when 
he was informed of their invasion, was in great con- 
sternation, remembering the prophecy of Amenophis, 

1 Tethmosis was a sovereign of the 18th dynasty, accord- 
ing to Eusebius. 



134 CORY'S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

the son of Papis, and he assembled the armies of 
the Egyptians, and took counsel with the leaders, 
and commanded the sacred animals to be brought to 
him, especially those which were held in the greatest 
veneration in the temples, and particularly charged 
the priests to conceal the images of their gods with 
the utmost care. And his son Sethos, who was also 
called Ramesses from his father Rampses, being but 
five years old he committed to the protection of a 
friend. And he marched with the rest of the Egyp- 
tians, being three hundred thousand warriors, against 
the enemy, who advanced to meet him ; but he did 
not attack them, thinking it would be to wage war 
against the gods, but he returned, and came again to 
Memphis, where he took Apis, {the sacred bztll), and 
the other sacred animals he had sent for, and retreated 
immediately into Ethiopia, together with all his army, 
and all the multitude of the Egyptians : for the king 
of Ethiopia was under obligations to him, wherefore 
he received him kindly, and took care of all the mul- 
titude that was with him, while the country supplied 
all that was necessary for their food. He also allotted 
to him cities and villages during his exile, which was 
to continue from its beginning during the predestined 
thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for an 
Ethiopian army upon the borders of Egypt, as a 
protection to king Amenophis. 

While such was the state of things in Ethiopia, 
the people of Jerusalem, having come down in com- 
pany with the unclean of the Egyptians, treated the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 35 

inhabitants with such barbarity that those who wit- 
nessed their impieties believed that their joint sway 
was more execrable than that which the Shepherds 
{alone) had formerly exercised. They not only set 
fire to the cities and villages, but committed every 
kind of sacrilege, and destroyed the images of the 
gods, and roasted and fed upon those sacred animals 
that were worshipped ; and having compelled the 
priests and prophets to kill and sacrifice them, they 
cast them naked out of the country. 

It is also said that the priest who ordained their 
polity and laws was by birth a native of Heliopolis, 
and that he was named Osarsiph, from Osiris, the 
god venerated at Heliopolis. He adds, however, 
that when he went over to these people his name 
was changed, and he was called Moyses (Mouses or 
Moses). Manetho again says, 'after this Amenophis 
returned from Ethiopia with a great force, and 
Rampses his son also, with other forces, and encoun- 
tering the Shepherds and the unclean people, they 
defeated them, and slew multitudes of them, and pur- 
sued the remainder to the borders of Syria (Judea).' " 
— From Josephus against Apion. Book i., cap. 27. 

" The authenticity of the account of Josephus," says Dr. 
Eisenlohr, " is not to be doubted, for, if he had not found 
the story in Manetho, he would not have thought it neces- 
sary to denounce it. It has long been accepted by Egyp- 
tologists," says he, "that the narration of Josephus refers 
really to the Exodus of the Israelites." — Transactions of 
Soc. Bib. Archceol. vol. L, part 2., p. 380 — 1. — Note by the 
Editor. 



THE OLD EGYPTIAN CHRONICLE. 



" Among the Egyptians there is a certain tablet 
called the Old Chronicle, containing thirty dynasties 
in 113 descents, during the long period of 36,525 
years. The first series of princes was that of the 
Auritse ; the second was that of the Mestraeans ; the 
third of Egyptians. The Chronicle runs as follows : — 

To Hephaestus [or, Vulcan] is assigned no time, 
as he is apparent both by night and day. 

Helius [or, the Sun] the son of Hephaestus (Vul- 
can) reigned three myriads of years. 

Then Kronus [or, Saturn] and the other twelve 
divinities reigned 3,984 years. 

Next in order are the demigods, in number eight, 
who reigned 217 years. 

After these are enumerated 1 5 generations of the 
Cynic circle, which take up 443 years. 

The 1 6th Dynasty is of the Tanites, eight kings, 
which lasted 190 years. 

17th, Memphites ; 4 in descent ; 103 years. 

1 8th, Memphites ; 14 in descent ; 348 years. 

19th, Diospolites (or Thebans) ; 5 in descent; 
194 years. 

20th, Diospolites (or Thebans) ; 8 in descent ; 
228 years. 

2 1 st, Tanites; 6 in descent; 121 years. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 37 

22nd, Tanites ; 3 in descent; 48 years. 

23rd, Diospolites (or Thebans) ; 2 in descent; 19 
years. 

24th, Sa'ites ; 3 in descent ; 44 years. 

25th, Ethiopians ; 3 in descent ; 44 years. 

26th, Memphites ; 7 in descent ; 177 years. 

27th, Persians ; 5 in descent; 124 years. 

28th (No information). 

29th, Tanites ; in descent ; 39 years. 

30th, A Tanite ; 1 in descent; 18 years. 

Embracing in all 30 Dynasties, and amounting to 
36,525 years." — From Syncellus' Chronicon. 51, and 
Eusebius Chron. 6. 



ERATOSTHENES' 

Canon of the Kings of Thebes. 



The first who reigned was Mines, (Menes), the 
Thebinite, the Thebaean ; which is by interpretation 
Dionius. 1 He reigned sixty-two years, and lived in 
the year of the world 2,900. 

The 2nd of the Theban kings reigned Athothes 
the son of Mines (Menes), 59 years. He is called 
by interpretation Hermogenes. In the year of the 
world 2,962. 

The 3rd of the Theban Egyptian kings was 
Athothes, of the same name, 32 years. In the year 
of the world 3,021. 

The 4th of the Theban kings was Diabies, the 
son of Athothes, 19 years. By interpretation he is 
called Philesteros. In the year of the world 3,053. 

The 5th of the Theban kings was Pemphos, the 
son of Athothes, who is called Heraclides. He 
reigned 18 years. In the year of the world 3,072. 

The 6th of the Theban Egyptian kings was Tcegar 
Amachus Momchiri, the Memphite, who is called a 



1 i.e., a Diospolitan ; for Thebes, (called No in our Bibles), 
was designated by the Greeks as Diospolis ; i.e. the city of 
Jupiter (Amnion,) 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. ■ 1 39 

man redundant in his members, 79 years and a.m. 
3,090. 

The 7th of the Theban Egyptian kings, Stcechus 
his son, who is Ares the senseless, reigned 6 years, 
a.m. 3,169. 

The 8th of the Theban Egyptian kings Gosor- 
mies, who is called Etesipantus, reigned 30 years, 
and a.m. 3,175. 

The 9th of the Theban Egyptian kings Mares, 
his son, who is called Heliodorus, 26 years, and a.m. 

3.205- 

The 10th of the Theban Egyptian kings Anoy- 
phes, which signifies a common son, reigned 20 
years, and a.m. 3,231. 

The nth of the Theban Egyptian kings Sirius, 
which signifies the son of the cheek, but, according to 
others Abascantus, reigned 18 years, and a.m. 3,251. 

The 1 2th of the Theban Egyptian kings reigned 
Chnubus Gneurus, which is Chryses the son of 
Chryses, 22 years, a.m. 3,269. 

The 13th of the Theban Egyptian kings reigned 
Ranosis, which is Archicrator, 13 years, a.m. 3,291. 

The 14th of the Theban Egyptian kings, Biuris r 
reigned 10 years. Anno Mundi 3,304. 

The 15 th of the Theban kings, Saophis Komastes, 
or according to some, Chrematistes {i.e., the trafficker, 
or money-getter), reigned 29 years, and this was 
about a.m. 3,314. 

The 1 6th of the Theban kings, Sensaophis the 
2nd, reigned 27 years, a.m. 3,343. 



140 cory's ancient fragments. 

The 17th of the Theban kings, Moscheris Helio- 
dotus, reigned 31 years, a.m. 3,370. 

The 1 8th of the Theban kings, Musthis, reigned 
33 years, a.m. 3,401. 

The 19th of the Theban kings, Pammus Archon- 
des, reigned 35 years, a.m. 3,434. 

The 20th of the Theban kings, Apaphus, sur- 
named the Great, is said to have reigned 100 years, 
with the exception of one hour, a.m. 3,469. 

The 2 1 st of the Theban kings, Acheskus Okaras, 
reigned one year, a.m. 3,569. 

The 22nd of the Theban sovereigns was Nitokris, 
who reigned instead of her husband (she is Athena 
Nikephorus. Her reign was 6 years, a.m. 3,570.) 

The 23rd of the Theban kings, Myrtaeus Am- 
monodotus, reigned 22 years, a.m. 3,576. 

The 24th of the Theban kings, Thyosimares the 
Robust, who is called the sun, reigned 12 years, 

A.M. 3598. 

The 25th of the Theban kings, Thinillus, which 
is the augmenter of the country's strength, reigned 
8 years, a.m. 3,610. 

The 26th of the Theban kings, Semphrucrates, 
who is Hercules Harpocrates, reigned 18 years, a.m. 
3,618. 

The 27th of the Theban kings, Chuthur Taurus 
the tyrant, 7 years, a.m. 3,636. 

The 28th of the Theban kings, Meures Philos- 
corus, reigned 12 years, a.m. 3,643. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 141 

The 29th of the Theban kings, Chomaephtha, 
Cosmus Philephaestus, reigned n years, a.m. 3,655. 

The 30th of the Theban kings, Ancunius Ochy- 
tyrannus, reigned 60 years, a.m. 3,666. 

The 31st of the Theban kings, Penteathyris, reigned 
42 years, a.m. 3,726. 

The 32nd of the Theban kings, Stamenemes the 
second, reigned 23 years, a.m. 3,768. 

The 33rd of the Theban kings, Sistosichermes, 
the strength of Hercules, reigned 55 years, a.m. 

3,791. 

The 34th of the Theban kings, Maris, reigned 43 
years, a.m. 3,846. 

The 35th of the Theban kings, Siphoas, who is 
Hermes (Mercury), the son of Hephaestus, reigned 
5 years, a.m. 3,889. 

The 36th of the Theban kings, . . . . , reigned 
14 years, a.m. 3,894. 

The 37th of the Theban kings, Phruron, who is 
Nilus, reigned 5 years, a.m. 3,908. 

The 38th of the Theban kings, Amuthantaeus, 
reigned 63 years, a.m. 3,913. 

From Syncelluss Chronicon, 91, 96, 101, 104, 109, 
123, 147. 



MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS. 



OF THE EXODUS. 

From Chaeremon. 

"After him, {i.e., Manetho), I wish to examine 
Chaeremon, who professes to have composed a 
history of Egypt. He gives the same name as does 
Manetho to the king Amenophis, and his son 
Ramesses, and says as follows : — 

Isis appeared to Amenophis in his dreams, rebuk- 
ing him that her temple should have been overthrown 
in war. Upon which Phritiphantes, the sacred scribe, 
told him that if he would clear Egypt of all polluted 
persons, he would be delivered from these terrors. 
He therefore collected 250,000 unclean persons, and 
drove them out (of Egypt). Their leaders were 
two scribes, called Moyses and Josephus ; the latter 
of whom was a sacred scribe : but their Egyptian 
names were respectively, that of Moyses Tisitkene, 
and that of Josephus Peteseph. They bent their 
way towards Pelusium, where they met with 380,000 
men left there by Amenophis, whom he would not 
suffer to come into Egypt. With these they made 
a treaty, and invaded Egypt. But Amenophis waited 
not to oppose their incursion, but fled into Ethiopia, 
leaving his wife pregnant : and she concealed herself 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 43 

in a cavern, where she brought forth a child, and 
named him Messenes, who, when he arrived at 
manhood, drove out the Jews into Syria, being 
about 200,000, and recalled his father, Amenophis, 
from Ethiopia/' — Extracted from Josephus against 
Apion, Book i. ch. 32. 

From Diodorus Siculus. 

" There having arisen in former days a pestiferous 
disease in Egypt, the multitude attributed the cause 
of the evil to the Deity ; for a very great concourse of 
foreigners of every nation then dwelt in Egypt, who 
were addicted to strange rites in their worship and 
sacrifices ; so that, in consequence, the due honours 
of the gods fell into disuse. Whence the native 
inhabitants of the land inferred, that unless they 
removed them, there would never be an end of their 
distresses. They immediately, therefore, expelled 
these foreigners ; the most illustrious and able of 
whom passed over in a body, (as some say), into 
Greece, and other places, under the conduct of cele- 
brated leaders, of whom the most renowned were 
Danaus, and Cadmus. But a large body of the 
people went forth into the country which is now 
called Judea, situated not far distant from Egypt, 
being altogether desert in those times. The leader 
of this colony was Moses, a man very remarkable 
for his great wisdom and valour. When he had 



144 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

taken possession of the land, among other cities, he 
founded that which is called Jerusalem, which is now 
the most celebrated." — Extracted from Book xl. 
Eel. i, p. 921. 

Note.- — The rest of the fragment gives an accotmt 
of the Jewish polity, laws, &c. It was the beginning 
of Diodoruss " History of the Jewish War" and is 
preserved by Photius, (Bishop of Constantinople. ) 

From Lysimachus. 

"He says, that in the reign of Bocchoris, king of 
Egypt, the Jewish people, being infected with leprosy, 
scurvy, and sundry other diseases, took shelter in 
the temples, where they begged for food ; and. that, 
in consequence of the vast number of persons who 
were seized with these complaints, there arose a 
famine in Egypt. Upon this, Bocchoris, king of the 
Egyptians, sent persons to enquire of the Oracle 
of Ammon, 1 respecting this scarcity, and the god 
directed him to cleanse the temples of all polluted 
and impious men, and to cast them out into the 
desert, but to drown those who were affected with the 
leprosy and scurvy, inasmuch as their existence was 
displeasing to the Sun ; then to purify the temples, 
upon which the land would recover its fertility. 
When Bocchoris had received the oracle, he as- 

1 The temple of Jupiter Ammon was situated in the 
Oasis of Sivvah, as it is now called. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 45 

sembled the priests and attendants of the altars, and 
commanded them to gather together all the unclean 
persons and deliver them over to the soldiers to lead 
them forth into the desert ; but to wrap the lepers in 
sheets of lead, and cast them into the sea. After 
they had drowned those afflicted with the leprosy 
and scurvy, they collected the rest, and left them to 
perish in the desert. But they took counsel among 
themselves, and when night came on they lighted up 
fires and torches to defend themselves, and fasted all 
the next night to propitiate the gods to save them. 
Upon the following day a certain man, called Moyses, 
counselled them to persevere in following one direct 
way till they should arrive at habitable places, and 
enjoined them to hold no friendly communication 
with men, neither to follow those things which men 
esteemed good, but such as were considered evil ; 
and to overthrow the temples and altars of the gods 
as often as they should meet with them. When 
they had assented to these proposals, they continued 
their journey through the desert, acting upon those 
rules, and after severe hardships, they at length 
arrived in a habitable country, where, having inflicted 
every kind of injury upon the inhabitants, plundering 
and burning the temples, they came at length to the 
land which is now called Judea, and founded a city 
and settled there. This city was named Hierosyla, 1 

1 From tepos, a temple, and o-uAcuo, to plunder. 
K 



146 cory's ancient fragments. 

from their {plundering and sacrilegious) disposition. 
But in after times, when they acquired strength 
to obliterate the reproach, they changed its name, 
and called the city Hierosolyma, and themselves 
Hierosolymites." — Extracted from Josephus against 
Apion, 34. 



From Polemo. 

" Some of the Greeks also relate that Moses 
flourished in those times. Polemo, in the first book 
of his Grecian histories, says ' that in the reign of 
Apis, the son of Phoroneus, a part of the Egyptian 
army deserted from Egypt, and took up their 
habitation in that part of Syria which is called 
Palestine, not far from Arabia.' These indeed were 
they who went out with Moses." — Extracted from 
Africanus, as quoted by Eusebius, Prcep. Evang., 
Book x. 



From Ptolemaeus Mendesius. 

" Amosis, who lived about the same time with 
Inachus the Argive (i.e., the king of Argos), over- 
threw the city of Avaris, as Ptolemaeus Mendesius 
has related in his chronicle."— Extracted from the 
Stromata of Clemejzs, Bishop of Alexandria, quoted 
by Eusebius, PrcBp. Evang., Book x. 



corys ancient fragments. 147 

From Artabanus. 

" And they {the Jews) borrowed of the Egyptians 
many vessels, and no small quantity of raiment, and 
every variety of treasure, and passed over the 
branches of the river towards Arabia, and upon the 
third day's march they arrived at a convenient sta- 
tion upon the Red Sea. And the Memphites say 
that Moyses, being well acquainted with that part 
of the country, waited for the ebbing tide, and then 
made the whole multitude pass through the shallows 
of the sea. But the Heliopolitans (or people of 
On), say that the king pursued them with a great 
army, and took with him the sacred animals, in order 
to recover the substance which the Jews had bor- 
rowed of the Egyptians. But that a divine voice in- 
structed Moyses to strike the sea with his rod : and 
that when Moyses heard this, he touched the waters 
with his rod, whereupon the waves stood apart, and 
the host went through along a dry path. He says, 
moreover, that when the Egyptians came up with 
them, and pursued them, the fire flashed on them 
from before, and the sea again inundated the path, 
and that all the Egyptians perished either by the 
fire or by the return of the waters. 

But the Jews escaped the danger, and passed thirty 
years in the desert, where God rained upon them a 
kind of grain called panic, 1 whose colour was like 

1 eAu/Aos. 



148 cory's ancient fragments. 

snow. He says also that Moyses was ruddy, with 
white hair, and of a dignified deportment, and that 
when he did these things, he was in the eighty-ninth 
year of his age." — Extracted from Eusebius, Praep. 
Evang., Book x. 

Artabanus, evidently an Alexandrian yew, is said 
to have written about a century before Christ. The 
fragments of his history which have been preserved 
follow the Scriptures, with some few variations and 
additions. In this account both the Memphite and 
the Heliopolitan traditions are referred to. Unfor- 
tunately its authenticity is very much to be stispected. 



THE OBELISK OF HELIOPOLIS. 

From Ammianus Marcellinus. 
The interpretation begins upon the southern side. 

South Side. 

Verse the First. 

" The Sun to king Rhamestes. I have bestowed 
upon you to rule graciously over all the world. He 
whom the Sun loves is Horus the Brave, the lover 
of truth, the son of Heron, born of God, the Restorer 
of the World : He whom the sun has chosen is the 
king Rhamestes, valiant in battle, to whom all the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 49 

earth is subject by his might and bravery. Rhamestes 
the king, the immortal offspring of the Sun." 

Verse the Second. 

" It is Horus the Brave who is in truth appointed 
the Lord of the Diadem ; he who renders Egypt 
glorious and possesses it ; he who sheds a splendour 
over Heliopolis, and Regenerates the rest of the 
world, and Honours the gods who dwell in Helio- 
polis, him the Sun loves. 

Verse the Third. 

Horus the Brave, the offspring of the Sun, All- 
glorious : whom the Sun has chosen, and the valiant 
Ares (Mars) has endowed. His goodness remains 
for ever, whom Ammon loves, who fills with good 
the temple of the Phoenix. To him the Gods have 
granted life, Horus the brave, the son of Heron 
Rhamestes, the king of the world: He has protected 
Egypt and subdued her neighbours : Him the Sun 
loves. The gods have granted him great length of 
life. He is Rhamestes, the Lord of the World, the 
Immortal. 

Another Side. 

Verse the Second, 

" I the Sun, the great God, the sovereign ot 
heaven, have bestowed upon you life without satiety. 



I50 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

Horus the Brave, Lord of the diadem, incomparable, 
the Sovereign of Egypt, he who has placed the 
statues of {the gods) in this palace, and has beautified 
Heliopolis, in like manner as he has honoured the 
Sun himself, the sovereign of heaven. The offspring 
of the Sun, the King immortal, has performed a 
goodly work." 

Verse the Third. 

" I, the Sun, the God and Lord of heaven, have 
bestowed strength and power over all things, on king 
Rhamestes : he whom Horus, the lover of truth, the 
Lord of the Seasons, and Hephaestus {i.e., Vulcan), 
the father of the Gods, have chosen on account of his 
valour, is the all-gracious king, the offspring and 
beloved of the Sun." 



Towards the East. 

Verse the First. 

" The great God from Heliopolis, celestial, Horus 
the Brave, the son of Heron, whom the Sun begot, 
and whom the Gods have honoured, he is the ruler 
of all the earth; he whom the Sun hath chosen is the 
king, valiant in battle. Him Ammon loves ; and 
him the all-glittering has chosen his eternal king." 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 151 

OF THE SIRIADIC COLUMNS. 

From Josephus. 

" All these (the sons of Seth), being naturally of a 
good disposition, lived happily in the land without 
apostatising, and free from any evils whatsoever : 
and they studiously turned their attention to the 
knowledge of the heavenly bodies and their con- 
figurations. And lest their science should at any 
time be lost among men, and what they had pre- 
viously acquired should perish, (inasmuch as Adam 
had acquainted them that a universal apkanism, or 
destruction of all jthings, would take place alternately 
by the force of fire and the overwhelming powers of 
water), they erected two columns, the one of brick 
and the other of stone, and engraved upon each of 
them their discoveries ; so that, in case the brick 
pillar should be dissolved by the waters, the stone 
one might survive to teach men the things engraved 
upon it, and at the same time inform them that a 
brick one had formerly been also erected by them. 
It remains even to the present day in the land of 
Siriad." 1 — Extracted from yosephus "Antiquities 
of the yews" Book i. ch. 2. 

Note by the Editor. — " We do not here propose 
to renew the inquiry concerning the celebrated 
antediluvian columns, or stelae, on which the lore of 

1 Various readings of this word are given, as Syriada, 
Sirida, Sciria. Voss proposes that we should read, Eirath. 



152 CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

this primaeval world, with all its wisdom, was said 
to be transmitted. Plato, it is well-known, speaks of 
these columns in the opening of the Timceus. We 
shall examine, in the 5th book, whether this be any- 
thing more than a figurative description, and how far 
we may be justified in assuming any connection 
between the Egyptian legend and the two pillars of 
Seth mentioned by Josephus. (Antiq. i., ch. 2). 
These pillars, it is obvious, have reference to the 
book of Enoch* ; perhaps also to the pillars of 
Akikarus, or Akicharus, the Prophet of Babylon, (or 
the Bosphorus), whose wisdom Democritus is said to 
have stolen, and on which Theophrastus composed 
a treatise. In the Egyptian traditions that have come 
down to us, these primaeval stelae do not make their 
appearance until the third and fourth centuries. They 
are first mentioned in the so-called Fragments of 
Hermes, in Stobaeus ; afterwards, in Zosimus of 
Panopolis, evidently in the colouring of Judaising- 
Christian writers ; but, in their worst shape, in the 
fourth century, in the work of an impostor who 
assumed the name of Manetho. That in this latter 
instance, at least, they were connected with the 
narrative of Josephus, is shown by their allusion to 
the ' Syriadic Country/" — Extracted from Bunsen's 
Egypt's Place in History, vol. i., p. 7, 8. 

* See the English translation of this book from the 
Ethiopic by Abp. Lawrence, (Oxford, 182 1), and compare 
with it the extracts from it in Syncellus, upon the so- 
called Egregors, alluded to in the Epistle of Jude (verse 6). 



THE 

INDIAN EEAGMENTS 



FROM 



MEGASTH EN E S. 



INDIAN FRAGMENTS. 



MEGASTHENES. 



" Megasthenes also appears to be of this opinion, 
informing us that no reliance can be placed upon the 
ancient histories of the Indians. 'For,' says he, 
' there never was an army sent forth by the Indians, 
nor did ever a foreign army invade and conquer that 
country, except the expeditions of Hercules and 
Dionysus, (Bacchus), and this {invasioii) of the 
Macedonians. Yet, Sesostris the Egyptian, and 
Tearcon (Tirhakah) the Ethiopian, extended their 
conquests as far as Europe. But Navocodrosorus 
(Nebuchadnezzar), the most renowed {monarch) 
among the Chaldeans, exceeded Hercules, and 
carried his arms as far as the Pillars 1 {of Heracles, 
i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar), to which also, it is said, 
Tearcon 2 arrived. But Navocodrosorus led his 
army from Spain to Thrace and Pontus. Idant- 
hursus the Scythian, also overran all Asia as far 



1 There are on either side of the Strait two mountains, 
here called pillars, viz., Gebel Tarifa and Abyla. 

2 Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, 



156 cory's ancient fragments. 

as Egypt. But none of all these ever invaded 
India.' 

Semiramis died before she commenced the under- 
taking. But the Persians sent the Hydracse to 
collect a tribute from India ; but they never entered 
the country in a hostile manner, but only approached 
it when Cyrus led his expedition against the Mas- 
sagetse. Megasthenes, however, with some few 
others, gives credit to the narratives of the exploits 
of Hercules and Dionysus (Bacchus) : but all other 
historians, among whom may be reckoned Eratos- 
thenes, set them down as incredible and fabulous, 
and of the same stamp with the achievements of the 
heroes among the Greeks." — Extracted from Strabo, 
Book xv. 686. 

Of the Castes of India. 

" Megasthenes says, that the whole population of 
India is divided into seven castes ; among which that 
of the Philosophers is held in estimation as the first, 
notwithstanding their number is the smallest. The 
people when they sacrifice and prepare the feasts of 
the dead in private, each makes use of the services 
of one of them. But the kings publicly gather them 
together in an assembly which is called the great 
Synod, at which, in the commencement of each new 
year, all the philosophers assemble at the gate (court) 
of the king, so that, whatever each of them may have 



GORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 57 

collected of things useful, or may have observed rela- 
tive to the increase of the fruits and animals, and of 
the state, he may produce it in public. And it is a 
law that if any one of them be three times convicted 
of falsehood, he shall be doomed to silence during 
life ; but the upright they exonerate from tax and 
tribute. The second division is the caste of the Agri- 
culturists, who are the most numerous and worthy. 
They pursue their occupation free from military duties 
and fear ; neither concerning themselves with civil, 
nor public, nor indeed any other business. It often 
happens that at the same time and place the military 
class is arrayed and engaged with an enemy whilst 
the agricultural, depending upon the other, {i.e., the 
military caste) for protection, plough and dig without 
any kind of danger. And, since the land is all held 
of the king, they cultivate upon hire, paying rent of 
one-fourth of the produce. The third caste is that of 
the Shepherds and Hunters, to whom alone it is law- 
ful to hunt, graze, and sell cattle, for which they give 
a premium and stipend. For ridding the land also, 
of wild beasts and birds which destroy the grain, they 
are entitled to a portion of corn from the king, and 
lead a wandering life, living in tents. After the 
Hunters and Shepherds, the fourth caste is that of 
the Artisans and Innkeepers, and bodily Labourers 
of all kinds, of whom some bring tribute, or, instead 
of it, perform stated service on the public works. 
But the manufacturers of arms and builders of ships 



158 cory's ancient fragments. 

are entitled to pay and sustenance from the king, for 
they work only for him. The keeper of the military 
stores gives out the arms to the soldiers, and the 
governor of the ships lets them out for hire to the 
sailors and merchants. The fifth caste is the Military, 
who, when disengaged, spend the rest of their time 
at ease, in stations or barracks assigned them by the 
king, so that, whenever occasion may require, they 
may be ready to march forth directly, carrying with 
them nothing else than their bodies. The sixth caste 
consists of the Inspectors, whose business it is to pry 
into all matters that are carried on, and report them 
privately to the king, for which purpose in the towns 
they employ courtesans, and camp-followers in the 
camp. They are chosen from the most upright and 
honourable men. The seventh caste includes the 
Councillors and Assessors of the king, by whom the 
government, and laws, and administration are con- 
ducted, v It is unlawful either to contract marriages 
with another caste, or to change one profession or 
occupation for another, or for one man to undertake 
more than one ^profession), unless the person so 
doing shall be one of the Philosophers, who are 
privileged on account of their dignity. 

As regards the Governors, some preside over the 
rural affairs, others over the civil, others, again, over 
the military. To the first class is entrusted the in- 
spection of the rivers, and the measurement of the 
fields after the inundations, as in Egypt, and the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 59 

covered aqueducts, by which the water is distri- 
buted into channels for the equal supply of all, 
according to their wants. The same have the 
care of the Hunters, with the power of dispensing 
rewards and punishments according to their de- 
serts. They collect also the tribute, and inspect 
all the arts which are exercised upon the land, 
as of wrights, (vkoToixoiv), and carpenters, and the 
workers of brass and other metals. They also con- 
struct the highways, and at every ten stadia they 
place a mile-stone (0-7-77X77), to point out the turnings 
and distances. The governors of cities are divided 
into six pentads, some of whom overlook the opera- 
tive works, and others have charge of all foreigners, 
distributing to them an allowance, and taking cogni- 
zance of their lives, if they give them habitations ; 
else they send them away, and take care of the goods 
of such as happen to die, or are unwell, and bury 
them when dead. The third class of {governors) take 
registers of the births and deaths, and how and when 
they take place ; and this (is done) for the sake of the 
tribute, that no births, either of good or bad, nor any 
deaths maybe unnoticed. The fourth class has the care 
of the innkeepers and exchanges : these have charge 
also of the measures and qualities of the goods, that 
they may be sold according to the proper stamps. 
Nor is any one permitted to barter more unless he 
pay a double tribute. The fifth class presides over 
the manufactured articles, arranging them, and sepa- 



160 cory's ancient fragments. 

rating the stamped goods from the common, and the 
old from the new, and laying a fine upon those who 
mix them. The sixth and last class exact the tithe 
of all things sold, with the power of inflicting death 
on all such as cheat. Each, therefore, has his private 
duties. But it is the public business of them all to 
control the private, as well as civil, affairs of the 
nation, and to inspect the repairs of the public works, 
and prices, and the markets, and the ports, and 
temples. 

After the civil-governors there is a third college, 
which presides over military affairs, and this, in like 
manner, is divided into six pentads, of which the first 
is consociated with the governor of the fleet ; the 
second with him who presides over the yokes of 
oxen by which the instruments are conveyed, and 
the food for themselves and the oxen, and all the 
other baggage of the army. They have with them, 
moreover, attendants who play upon drums and bells, 
together with grooms and smiths, and their under 
workmen ; and they send forth their foragers to the 
sound of bells, recompensing their speed with honour 
or punishment, and attending to their safety. The 
third class have the charge of the infantry; the fourth 
of the cavalry ; the fifth of the chariots ; the sixth of 
the elephants. Moreover, there are royal stables for 
the horses and beasts ; and a royal arsenal, in which 
the soldier deposits his accoutrements when he has 
done with them, and gives up his horse to the master 



cory's ancient fragments. 161 

of the horse, and the same with respect to his beasts. 
They ride without bridles ; the oxen draw the cha- 
riots along the roads, while the horses are led in 
halters, that their legs may not be injured, nor their 
spirit impaired by the draught of the chariots. In 
addition to the charioteer, each chariot contains two 
riders ; but, in the equipment of an elephant, its con- 
ductor is the fourth, there being three bowmen also 
upon it. 

The Indians are frugal in their diet, more parti- 
cularly in the camp ; and, as they use no superfluities, 
they generally attire themselves with elegance. 

The relation of Strabo is continued, with an account 
of the laws and customs of the Indians, containing 
some extracts from Megasthenes irrelevant to the 
antiquities. 

Of the Philosophers. 

" That is much more worthy of credit which Megas- 
thenes reports, that the rivers roll down crystals of 
gold ; and that a tribute is collected from thence for 
the king, for this also takes place in Iberia (Spain). 
And, speaking of the Philosophers, he says that those 
who inhabit the mountains are votaries of Dionysus 
(Bacchus), and they point to traces of him among 
them, inasmuch as with them alone the vine grows 
naturally wild, as well as the ivy, and laurel, and 
myrtle, and the box, and other species of evergreens, 
of which, beyond the Euphrates there are none, 



1 62 cory's ancient fragments. 

except such as are kept as rarities in gardens, and 
preserved with great care. The following are also 
customs of Dionysiac, {or Bacchic) origin, viz., the 
wearing of linen tunics and turbans, the use of oils 
and perfumes, and the preceding their kings with 
bells and drums when he goes forth on a journey. 
The inhabitants of the plain, however, are devoted to 
the worship of Hercules." — Extracted from Strado, 
Book xv. 711. 

Of the Philosophical Sects. 

"He makes also another division of the Philoso- 
phers, saying that there are two races of them, one of 
which he calls the Brahmans, and the other the Ger- 
manes. Of these the Brahmans are the more excellent, 
inasmuch as their discipline is preferable ; for, as soon 
as they are conceived, they are committed to the charge 
of men skilled in magic arts, who approach under the 
pretence of singing incantations for the well-doing 
both of the mother and the child, though, in reality, 
to give certain wise directions and admonitions ; and 
the mothers, who willingly pay attention to them, are 
supposed to be more fortunate in parturition. 

After their birth, they pass from the care of one 
master to that of another, as their increasing age re- 
quires the more superior. The Philosophers pass 
their time in a grove of moderate circumference, 
which lies in front of the city, living frugally, and lying 



cory's ancient fragments. 163 

upon couches of leaves and skins. They abstain 
also from animal food, and intercourse with females, 
intent upon serious discourses, and communicating 
them to such as wish. But it is considered improper 
for the auditor either to speak, or to exhibit any other 
sign of impatience ; for, in case he should, he is cast 
out of the assembly for that day as one incontinent. 
After passing thirty-seven years in this manner, they 
betake themselves to their own professions, where 
they live more freely and unrestrained : they then 
assume the linen tunic, and wear gold in moderation 
upon their hands, and in their ears. They also eat 
flesh, except that of animals which are serviceable to 
mankind ; but they, nevertheless, abstain from acids 
and condiments. They practise polygamy for the 
sake of having large families, because they think that 
from many wives a larger progeny will proceed. 
If they have no servants, their place is supplied by 
the service of their own children ; for, the more 
nearly any person is related to another, the more is 
he bound to attend to his wants. The Brahmans do 
not permit their wives to attend their philosophical 
lectures, lest, if they should be imprudent, they might 
divulge any of their secret doctrines to the uniniti- 
ated ; and, if they be of a serious turn of mind, lest 
they should desert them. For, no one who despises 
pleasure and pain, even to the contempt of life and 
death, (as a person of such sentiments as they pro- 
fess ought to be), would voluntarily submit to be under 



164 cory's ancient fragments. 

the domination of another. They hold various 
opinions upon the nature of death ; for they regard 
the present life merely as the conception of persons 
presently to be born; and death they consider as the 
birth into a life of reality and happiness, to those who 
philosophise rightly. Upon this account they are 
studiously careful in preparing for death. They hold 
that there is neither good nor evil in the accidents 
which take place among men ; nor would men, they 
say, if they regarded them aright, (as mere visionary 
delusions), either grieve or rejoice at them. They, 
therefore, neither distress themselves, nor exhibit 
any signs of joy at their occurrence. 

Their speculations upon nature, he says, are in 
some respects, childish, though he admits that they are 
better philosophers in their deeds than in their words ; 
inasmuch as they believe many things contained in 
their mythologies. However, they hold several of 
the same doctrines which are current among the 
Greeks ; such as, that the world is generated and 
destructible, and of a spherical figure, and, that the 
God who administers and forms it, pervades it 
throughout its whole extent ; that the principles of 
all things are different, that water, for instance, is the 
first principle of the fabrication of the world ; that 
after the four elements, there is a certain fifth nature, 
of which the heavens and stars are composed ; that the 
earth is situated in the centre of the whole. They 
add much, of a like nature, concerning generation and 



cory's ancient fragments. 165 

the soul. They have also conceived many fanciful 
speculations, after the manner of Plato ; in which they 
maintain the immortality of the soul, and the judg- 
ments of Hades, (hell), and doctrines of a similar 
description. Such is Megasthenes's account of the 
Brahmans. 

Of the Germanes, he says, those are considered the 
most honourable who are called Hylobii, and live in 
the woods upon leaves and wild fruits, clothing them- 
selves with the bark of trees, and abstaining from 
sexual intercourse, and wine. They hold communi- 
cation, by messengers, with the kings, who inquire of 
them concerning the causes of things ; and, by their 
means, the kings serve and worship the deity. 

After the Hylobii, the second in estimation are the 
Physicians, philosophers who are conversant with 
men, simple in their habits, but not exposing them- 
selves to a life abroad, living upon rice and grain, 
which every one to whom they apply freely gives 
them, and receives them into his house. They are 
able, by the use of medicines, to render women fruit- 
ful and productive, either of males or females ; but 
they perform their cures, rather by attention to diet, 
than by the use of medicines. Among medicines 
they approve more commonly of ointments and 
poultices : all others they consider not free from 
deleterious effects. These, and others of this sect, so 
exercise their patience in labours and trials, as to have 
attained the capability of standing in one position, 



1 66 cory's ancient fragments. 

unmoved, for a whole day. There are others also, 
who pretend to divination and enchantments, and 
are skilful in the concerns of the inhabitants, and of 
their laws. These lead a mendicant life among the 
villages and towns ; but the better class settle in the 
cities. They do not reject such of the mythological 
stories concerning Hades as appear to them favour- 
able to virtue and piety. Women, among some of 
these sects, are suffered to philosophise, but, in that 
case, they are required to abstain from sexual inter- 
course." — Extracted from Strabo, Book v. p. 712. 

Of the Indian Suicides. 

Megasthenes, in his account of the Philosophers, 
says, "There is no prescribed rule for putting an end 
to themselves ; but those who do it are esteemed 
rash. Those who are hardy by nature cast them- 
selves upon a sword, or from a precipice : those who 
are incapable of labour leap into the sea ; those who 
are patient of hardships are strangled, while those of 
a fiery temperament are thrust into the fire. This 
last was indeed the fate of Calanus, an intemperate 
man, and addicted to the pleasures of the table, at the 
court of Alexander {the Great)." — Extracted from 
Strabo, Book xv. p. 718. 

End of the Indian Fragments of Megasthenes. 



cory's ancient fragments. 167 

Of the Philosophers. From Clitarchus. 

" According to the statement of Clitarchus, they 
place in opposition to the Brahmans, the Pramnse, a 
contentious and argumentative set of men, who deride 
the Brahmans as arrogant, and ridiculous, on account 
of their studies in physiology and astronomy. They 
are divided into the Mountaineer, the Naked, the 
Citizen, and the Rural sects." 

Of the Indian Astronomy. 
From the Paschal Chronicle. 

" About the time of the construction of the Tower, 
(i.e., of Babel), a certain Indian, of the race of Ar- 
phaxad, made his appearance ; a wise man, and an 
astronomer, whose name was Andubarius. It was 
he who first instructed the Indians in the science of 
Astronomy." — p. 36. 



Note by the Editor. — Although from the earliest times to 
which historical research carries us back, an active trade seems to 
have been carried on between India and Western Asia, yet, Megas- 
thenes is the earliest authority to which we can appeal for 
information, regarding the immense continent lying between the 
Indus and the Ganges. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the ivory, apes, 
and peacocks, brought to Judea by the ships of Tarshish, are 
designated by genuine Hindu, (i.e. Tamil), names ; [see my article, 
Dravidian Languages in the English Cyclopced.), Supplement, Arts 
and Sciences'] ; and at least one city of Syria, (the Hierapolis of the 
Greeks), was called by the Sanskrit name of Mabug, from maha = 
great and bdgd = a. god — while India is enumerated among the 127 
provinces subject to the rule of Xerxes in Esther i. r, and viii. 9. 
The Sanskrit, the ancient language of Hindustan, abounds in 



1 68 cory's ancient fragments. 

works of science, theology, law, grammar, and poetry — both 
lyrical and dramatic ; yet, it is a remarkable fact, that no historical 
work exists in any language of India of a date anterior to the 
Mohammedan conquest, by Mahmood of Ghuzni, (a.d. i,ooo), 
except the poetic chronicle of Kashmir, called the Raja Tarangini, 
and the Ceylonese historical work called the Mahawanso. " That 
no Hindu nation but the Kashmirians," says Sir William Jones, 
" have left us regular histories in their ancient language we must 
ever lament " ; while Monier Williams, the Sanskrit Professor at 
Oxford, says, (Introd. to Na/a,p. xvii.), "all Hindu Chronology is 
more or less conjectural." It is, indeed, uncertain, at what period 
the Hindus acquired the art of writing ; for " no inscriptions," says 
Professor Max Miiller, (Sanskrit Grammar, p. 3), " have been 
met with in India anterior to the rise of Buddhism. The earliest 
authentic specimens of writing are the inscriptions of Priyadarsi, 
or Asoka, about B.C. 250. These are written in two different 
alphabets. The alphabet which is found in the inscription of 
Kapurdigiri . . . . is clearly of Semitic origin, and most closely 
connected with the Aramaic branch of the old Semitic, or 
Phoenician, alphabet .... while that which is found in the 
inscription of Girnar, and which is the real source of all other 
Indian alphabets, has not, as yet, been traced back in a satisfactory 
manner, to any Semitic prototype." It is therefore to the fortunate 
circumstance of Megasthenes, — who had accompanied Alexander 
the Great in his Indian Expedition — being accredited as Ambas- 
sador from Seleucus Nicator to Sandracottus, (whom we identify 
with the Chandragupta of Hindu story) — that we are indebted for 
the earliest information in regard to India which has reached 
western nations. The royal seat of this monarch was at Pata- 
liputra, (Palibothra, or Patna) ; and a poem by Somadeva, after 
relating the story of the revolution which took place at Pataliputra, 
and the massacre of Nanda, and his sons, speaks of the usurpation 
of Chandragupta, and of his residence there. The age of the 
great Asoka — the third or fourth in direct descent from Chandra- 
gupta, is one of the well-known epochs of the promulgation of the 
Buddhist faith ; for Mihinda, Asoka's brother, preached the 
doctrines of Buddha to the distant inhabitants of Ceylon. " The 
history of ancient India," says a writer in the Quarterly 
Review for July, 1870, "is like a series of writings on a palimpsest ; 
behind Buddhism, which is our first historical starting point, we 
find a form of Hinduism, which is the last stage of the religion of 
the Brahmanas, before it assumed its modern developments as we 
trace them in classical Sanskrit literature ; and it is far behind the 
oldest of the Brahmanas, that we must look for the period of the 
Rig-Veda, upon which all Sanskrit literature is based." 



THE 

ATLANTIC AND PANCHAEAN 
FEAGMENTS : 

FROM 

MARCELLUS AND EUEMERUS. 



ATLANTIC AND PANCHAEAN 
FRAGMENTS. 



Of the Atlantic Island. 

From Marcellus. 

" That such and so great an island formerly existed, 
is recorded by some of the historians who have 
treated of the concerns of the outward sea. For 
they say, that in their times there were seven islands 
situated in that sea, which were sacred to Proser- 
pine, (Persephone), and three others of an immense 
magnitude, one of which was consecrated to Pluto, 
another to Amnion, and the one which was situated 
between them to Poseidon 1 ; the size of this last island 
was no less than a thousand stadia. The inhabitants 
of this island preserved a tradition, handed down from 
their ancestors, concerning the existence of the 
Atlantic island, of prodigious magnitude, which had 
really existed in those seas, and which, during a long 
period of time, governed all the islands in the Atlan- 
tic Ocean. Such is the statement of Marcellus in his 
" Ethiopian History." — Extracted from Proclus in 
TimcEiis. 

1 i.e., Neptune. 



I7 2 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

PANCHAEAN FRAGMENTS. 

From Euemerus. 1 

" Euemerus, (the historian), was a favourite of 
Cassander the king, and being, upon that account 
constrained by his master to undertake some useful, 
as well as extensive, voyage of discovery, he says 
that he travelled southwards to the ocean, and having 
sailed from Arabia Felix, stood out to sea several 
days, and continued his course among the islands of 
that sea, one of which far exceeded the rest in 
magnitude, and this island was called Panchsea. 

He observes, that the Panchseans who inhabited 
it were singular for their piety, honouring the gods 
with magnificent sacrifices, and superb offerings of 
silver and gold. He says, moreover, that the island 
was consecrated to the gods, and mentions several 
other remarkable circumstances relative to its anti- 
quity, and the richness of the arts displayed in its 
institutions and services, some of which we have 
related in the books preceding this. He relates also, 
that upon the brow of a certain very high mountain 
in it, there was a temple of the Triphylaean Zeus, 
founded by him at the time he ruled over all the 



1 Or Euhemerus of Messana, an atheistic philosopher, 
friend of Cassander, king of Macedon. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 73 

habitable world, whilst he was yet resident amongst 
men. In this temple stood a golden column, on 
which was inscribed, in the Panchaean characters, a 
regular history of the actions of Ouranos, and Kronus, 
(Saturn), and Zeus (Jupiter). 

In a subsequent part of his work, he relates that 
the first king was Ouranos, a man renowned for 
justice and benevolence, and well conversant with 
the motion of the stars ; and, that he was the first 
who honoured the heavenly Gods with sacrifices, 
upon which account he was called Ouranos (Heaven). 
He had two sons by his wife Hestia, (Vesta), who 
were called Pan and Kronus; and daughters Rhea 1 
and Demetra. 2 And Kronus reigned after Ouranos ; 
and he married Rhea, and had by her Zeus, and Hera, 3 
and Poseidon. And when Zeus succeeded to the 
kingdom of Kronus he married Hera, and Demetra, 
and Themis, by whom he had children ; by the first, 
the Curetes 4 ; and Persephone, (Proserpine), by the 
second, and Athena, (Minerva), by the third. He 
went to Babylon, where he was hospitably received 
by Belus, and afterwards passed over to the island of 
Panchsea, which lies in the ocean, where he erected 



1 Cybele, "the great mother," the Ops of the Roman 
mythology. 

2 Ceres. 

3 Juno. 

4 Priests of Jupiter in the island of Crete, and of the 
goddess Cybele. 



174 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

an altar to Ouranos, (Heaven), his forefather. From 
thence he went into Syria to Cassius, who was then 
the ruler of that country, from whom Mount Casius, 1 
(on the borders of Egypt), receives its name. Passing 
thence into Cilicia, he conquered Cilix, the governor 
of those parts ; and, having travelled through many 
other nations, he was honoured by all and universally 
acknowledged as a god." — Eusebius Prcep. Evang. ii., 
as quoted from Diodorus Siculus Eel., p. 68 1. 



1 Casius is the name of a mountain on the coast of 
Egypt, now called Ras Rasaroun. It lies east of Pelusium. 
Another Mount Casius, (Jebel Okrah), is placed in the 
north of Syria, on the coast, south of the Orontes. It is 
uncertain which Mount Casius is intended in the text. 



End of the Atlantic and Panchcean Fragments. 



MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS. 



MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS. 



HECATAEUS OF ABDERA. 



" For Hecataeus of Abdera, who was both a philo- 
sopher, and one very useful in active life, was a con- 
temporary of Alexander the Great in his youth, and 
was afterwards with Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. He 
wrote a book expressly about the Jewish affairs, (not 
by-the-by only), out of which book I am willing to 
run over a few things, of which I have been treating 
by way of epitome. And, in the first place, I will 
demonstrate the time when this Hecataeus lived. 
For he mentions the battle between Ptolemy and 
Demetrius, King of Syria, near Gaza, which was 
fought in the eleventh year after the death of Alex- 
ander the Great, and in the cxvii. Olympiad, as Castor 
relates in his history. For, when he had set down 
this Olympiad, he says further, that in this Olym- 
piad, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, conquered in battle 
at Gaza, this Demetrius, King of Syria, the son of 
Antigonus, who was surnamed Poliorcetes. Now it 
is agreed by all, that Alexander the Great died in the 
cxiv. Olympiad. It is, therefore, evident that Our 
nation, (the Jews), flourished in his time, and in the 
time of Alexander the Great. Wherefore, Hecataeus 

M 



178 cory's ancient fragments. 

speaks to the same purpose as follows, viz., that 
Ptolemy, after the battle at Gaza, got possession of 
the places in Syria ; and many when they heard of 
Ptolemy's moderation and humanity, went along with 
him to Egypt, and were willing to assist him in his 
affairs; one of whom, says Hecataeus, was Hezekiah, 
the high-priest of the Jews, a man of about sixty-six 
years of age, and held in great dignity among his 
own people (the Jews). He was a very sensible 
man, and could speak ably, and was very skilful in 
the management of affairs, if any man ever were so, 
although, as he says, all the priests of the Jews took 
tithes of the products of the land, and managed public 
affairs, and were in number not above 1,500 at the 
most. Hecataeus makes mention of this Hezekiah 
a second time, and says, that as he was possessed of 
so great a dignity, and was become familiar with us, 
so did he take certain of those that were with him, 
and explained to them all the circumstances of their 
people, for he had all their habitations and civil 
polity down in writing. Moreover, Hecataeus de- 
clares again, ' what regard we have for our laws, and 
that we resolve to endure anything rather than trans- 
gress them, because we think it right for us to do so. 
Whereupon he adds, that although they are held in 
bad reputation among their neighbours and among 
all those who come to them, and have been often 
treated reproachfully by the kings, and satraps of 
Persia, yet they cannot be dissuaded from carrying 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. I 79 

out what they think best ; and when they are stripped 
of everything" on this account, and are tortured, and 
brought to the most terrible kinds of death, they meet 
them, {i.e., the tortures), after a most extraordinary 
manner, beyond all other people, and will not re- 
nounce the religion of their forefathers. Hecataeus 
also produces not a few incontestible proofs of this 
their resolute tenaciousness of their laws, when he 
informs us, that ' When once Alexander the Great 
was at Babylon, and had purposed to rebuild the 
temple of Belus, which had fallen to decay, and in 
order thereto, he commanded all his soldiers in 
general to carry earth thither, the Jews, and they 
alone, would not comply with that command. Nay, 
they underwent blows, and were mulcted in heavy 
fines on this account, until the king forgave them, and 
permitted them to live in quiet. He says, moreover, 
that when the Macedonians came to them into that 
country, and demolished the [old] temples, and the 
altars, they assisted them in demolishing them all ; 
but, (for not assisting them in rebuilding them), they 
either underwent the payment of fine to the Satraps, 
or, sometimes obtained forgiveness,' adding further, 
that 'these men deserve to be admired on that 
account.' He also speaks of the mighty populousness 
of our, (the Jewish), nation, and says, that 'the Per- 
sians formerly carried away into captivity many ten 
thousands of our people to Babylon, as also, that not 
a few ten thousands were removed, after the death 



180 cory's ancient fragments. 

of Alexander, into Egypt and Phoenicia, on account 

of the rebellion in Syria.' He also takes notice in his 

History how large the country is, which we inhabit, 

as well as of its excellent character, saying that ' the 

land which the Jews inhabit contains three millions 

of arourae, (or Egyptian acres), and is generally of a 

most excellent and fruitful soil ; nor is Judea of lesser 

dimensions.' The same writer describes our city of 

Jerusalem, as of a most excellent structure, and very 

large, and inhabited from the most ancient times. 

He also discourses of the number of men in it, and 

of the construction of our temple, after the following 

manner : ' There are many fortresses and villages,' 

says he, ( in the country of Judea ; but there is one 

fortified city, of about fifty furlongs in circumference, 

which is inhabited by 120,000 men, and this city they 

call Jerusalem. There is about the middle of the 

city a wall of stone, the length of which is 500 feet, 

and the breadth 100 cubits, with double cloisters (or 

having double gates). In the same place there is a 

square altar, not made of hewn stone, but composed 

of white stones gathered together, having each side 

twenty cubits in length, and ten cubits in height. 

Near it is a large edifice, wherein there is an altar, 

and a candlestick, both of gold, and two talents in 

weight. Upon these there is a light, which is never 

extinguished, neither by night nor by day. There 

is no image nor votive offering : nothing at all is 

there planted, neither a grove nor anything of the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. IQI 

kind. Priests remain night and day in the temple, 
performing certain purifications, to whom it is alto- 
gether prohibited, while there, to drink wine. Heca- 
taeus also testifies, that we, (the Jews), fought as 
auxiliaries in the army of Alexander, and afterwards 
in the service of his successors. I will add further 
what he learned, as he says, when he was himself 
with the same army, concerning what was done by a 
certain Jew in that expedition. He thus relates the 
story : ' As I was myself going to the Red Sea, 
there followed us a man, whose name was Mosollam : 
he was one of the Jewish horsemen who conducted 
us, a person of great courage, of a strong body, and 
one allowed by all to be the most skilful archer 
among either the Greeks or barbarians. Now, this 
man, as people were passing along the road in great 
numbers, and a certain augur was taking an augury 
by a bird, and required them all to stand still, 
Mosollam enquired what they were 'staying for. 
Hereupon the augur showed him the bird from, 
whence he took his augury, and told him, that if the 
bird stayed where he was, they ought all to stand still ; 
but, that if he got up and flew onward, they ought to 
advance ; but, on the other hand, if he flew back- 
ward, they must retire again. To this Mosollam 
made no reply, but, drawing his bow, shot at the 
bird, hit it, and killed it. When, therefore, the augur 
and others of the company were very angry, and 
cursed him, he answered them thus : ' Why are you 



:82 cory's ancient fragments. 

so mad as to take this most wretched bird into 
your hands ! How can this bird give us any true 
information concerning our march, which had not the 
foresight even to save himself ? For, had he been 
able to foresee the future, he would not have come to 
this place, but would have been afraid, lest Mosollam 
the Jew should shoot at and kill him/ 

But of the testimony of Hecataeus we have said 
enough ; such as desire to know more of them may 
easily obtain them from his book." 

From Josephus against Apion, Book ii. sec. 4. 

" For Alexander did not, therefore, assemble, or 
get together some of our nation to Alexandria, be- 
cause he wanted inhabitants for this his city, on the 
building of which he had bestowed so much pains; but 
this was given to our people, (the Jews), for a reward, 
because he had, upon a careful trial, found them all 
to be men of virtue and fidelity to him. For, as 
Hecataeus says concerning us, ' Alexander honoured 
our nation, (the Jews), to such a degree that, for the 
equity and fidelity which the Jews manifested towards 
him, he permitted them to hold the country of Sam- 
aria free from tribute. Of the same opinion was 
Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, as to those Jews who 
dwelt in Alexandria.' For he entrusted the fortresses 
of Egypt into their hands, believing they would keep 
them faithfully, and valiantly ; and, when he was 



cory's ancient fragments. 183 

desirous of securing the government of Cyrene, and 
the other cities of Libya to himself, he sent a body 
of Jews to inhabit them." 



AGATHARCHIDES OF CNIDUS. 

" I shall not think it too much for me to name 
Agatharchides, as having made mention of us Jews, 
though in the way of derision at our simplicity, as he 
supposes it to be. For, when he was discoursing of 
the affairs of Stratonice, ' how she came out of Mace- 
donia into Syria, and left her husband, Demetrius, 
while yet Seleucus would not marry her as she 
expected, but while he was raising an army at 
Babylon, stirred up a rebellion about Antioch, and 
how, after the king had returned, and on his taking 
Antioch she fled to Seleucia, and might have sailed 
away immediately had she not complied with a dream 
which forbade her to do so, and hence was captured 
and put to death.' 

When Agatharchides had premised this story, and 
had jested upon Stratonice for her superstition, he 
gives a like example of what was reported concerning 
us, and writes thus : ' There are a people called Jews, 
who dwell in a city, the strongest of all cities, which 
city the inhabitants call Jerusalem. They are accus- 



184 cory's ancient fragments. 

tomed to rest on every seventh day, at which times 
they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with hus- 
bandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread 
out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the 
evening. Now it came to pass, that when Ptolemy, 
the son of Lagus, came against this city with his 
army, these men, in observing this mad custom of 
theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their 
country to submit itself to a bitter lord ; and their law 
was openly proved to have commanded a foolish 
practice. This accident taught all other men but the 
Jews, to disregard such dreams as these were, and 
not to follow the like idle suggestions, delivered as a 
law, when, in such uncertainty of human reasonings, 
they are at a loss what they should do.' Now this 
our procedure seems a ridiculous thing to Agathar- 
chides ; but it will appear, to such as consider it 
without prejudice, a great thing, and one that de- 
served many encomiums ; I mean, when certain men 
constantly prefer the observation of their laws, and 
their religion towards God, before the preservation 
of themselves and their country." — From Josephus 
against Apion, Book i. sec. 2 2. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. l8 j 



Concerning the Septuagint Version, or the 
Translation of the Hebrew Books made 
into Greek by order of Ptolemy Phila- 
delphia, King of Egypt. 

From the Epistle of Demetrius Phalereus, keeper of 
the Royal Library at Alexandria, to the king. 

Demetrius to the great King. 

" When thou, O king, gavest me a charge concern- 
ing the collection of books that were wanting to fill 
your library and the care that ought to be taken 
about such as are imperfect, I have used the utmost 
diligence about those matters. And I hereby inform 
you, that we want the books of the Jewish legislation, 
with some others, for they are written in the Hebrew 
characters, and, being in the language of that nation, 
are to us unknown. Now it is necessary that thou 
shouldst have accurate copies of them. And indeed, 
this legislation, (the law of Moses), is full of hidden 
wisdom, and entirely blameless, as being the legisla- 
tion of God. For which cause it is, as Hecataeus 
of Abdera says, that the poets and historians make 
no mention of it, nor of those men who lead their 
lives according to it, since it is a holy law, and ought 
not to be published by profane mouths. If then it 
please thee, O king, thou mayest write to the high 



1 86 cory's ancient fragments. 

priest of the Jews, to send six of the elders out of 
every tribe, and those, such as are most skilful of the 
laws, that by their means we may learn the clear 
and consistent meaning of those books, and may 
obtain an accurate interpretation of their contents ; 
and so may have such a collection of these as may be 
suitable to thy desire." — From J osephus' s Antiquities 
of the jfeivs, Book xii. section 4. 



H I E M P S A L. 

From Sallust. 

De Bello Jugurthce. 

" But what race of men first had possession of 
Africa, and who afterwards arrived, and in what 
manner they have become blended with each other, 
though the following differs from the report which is 
commonly current, yet I will give it, as it was inter- 
preted to me from the Punic, (i.e., Carthaginian) 
books, which are called ' the books of King HiempsaV 
' The Gaetulians and Libyans/ says he, ' possessed 
Africa at first, a rough unpolished people, whose food, 
like that of cattle, consisted of the herb of the field, 
to which they added the flesh of wild animals. They 
were ruled neither by custom, law, nor any govern- 
ment ; but strolling and wandering about, had their 
abode wherever night compelled them to stay. But 



cory's ancient fragments. 187 

after Hercules had perished in Spain, as the Africans 
suppose, his army, composed of men belonging to 
different nations, upon the loss of their leader, con- 
tending among themselves for the chief command, 
soon dwindled away. Of this numerous host the 
Medes, Persians, and Armenians, having been con- 
veyed in ships to Africa, occupied those places 
nearest to the Mediterranean Sea. The Persians, 
however, settled nearer the (Atlantic) Ocean ; and, 
in place of houses, used their ships, turned bottom 
upwards, there being no wood in the country, nor 
any opportunity of buying, nor even of bartering 
with the Spaniards for any. Moreover, a wide sea 
and an unknown language prevented all intercourse. 
These colonists, by degrees mixed with the Gaetu- 
lians, 1 {i.e., the aborigines) in marriage. From the cir- 
cumstance, however, of their frequently making trial of 
different soils, and the consequent shifting about from 
place to place, they called themselves Numidians? 
And, to this day, the cottages of the Numidian 



1 The Gaetulians are the Berber tribes, now known by 
the names of Kabyles, Shelloofs, Beni-Mezab, &c, who are 
cognate in race and language with the aborigines of the 
Canary Islands. Their languages constitute the sub-Semitic 
branch of the Semitic linguistic family. Vide my article 
Semitic Languages, in the English Cyclopedia, Supplement 
(Arts and Sciences). 

2 From the Greek vepeiv, to feed, because they were fed, 
or maintained, by wandering about like grazing cattle. 



165 CORY'S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

peasants, which are called by them mapalia, are 
oblong, with their sides bulging out, like the hulls 
of ships. Now the Libyans joined the Medes and 
Armenians, for they lived nearer the African [i.e., 
Mediterranean) Sea, the Gaetulians more under the 
sun, (i.e., further south, not far from the scorching 
latitudes), and these, (i.e., the Liby-Medians and 
Armenians) very soon had towns : for, divided from 
Spain only by the Strait (of Gibraltar), they and the 
Spaniards began to interchange commodities, (or 
barter) with one another. The Libyans, however, 
in course of time corrupted their name, calling them, 
in their barbarous language, Mauri, (or Moors), in- 
stead of Medi or Medes. 

But the affairs of the Persians were soon in a 
flourishing condition, for afterwards, under the name 
of Numidians, (having separated from their parents 
on account of their vast numbers), they obtained 
possession of those parts nearest to Carthage, which 
are now called Numidia. Afterwards both parties, 
relying on one another, reduced their neighbours to 
subjection, either by arms or terror, and acquired for 
themselves, especially those who had advanced near- 
est to our, (i.e., the Mediterranean) Sea, both glory 
and reputation ; the Libyans being less warlike than 
the Gaetulians. Finally, most of the lower parts, (i.e., 
the north coast), of Africa were seized upon by the 
Numidians, all the conquered tribes being confounded 
in the name and nation of their rulers. In subse- 



cory's ancient fragments. 189 

quent times the Phoenicians, some with the object of 
diminishing the overflowing population at home, 
others through a longing for power, having gained 
over the people, together with those fond of changes 
in government, to their undertaking, built Hippo, 1 
Hadrumetum, and Leptis, with other towns on the 
coast. These cities, having grown much larger in a 
short time, became some a security, others an orna- 
ment to their founders. As to Carthage 2 itself, I 

1 There are two ancient cities on the north coast of Africa 
which were formerly called Hippo (Phoenician i^ UBBO, 
a bay). The one was Hippo Regius, once the residence of 
the Numidian kings, and the episcopal see of St. Augustine, 
now Bona. It is between the Cap de Fer (Ras Hadeed) 
and La Calle ; the other, formerly called Hippo Zarytus 
{i.e., Hippo of the Canal) standing on a beautiful land- 
locked harbour, with a narrow entrance (like a canal) to the 
Mediterranean,* is now called Ben Zert (i.e., son of the 
canal). The former is in Algeria, and belongs to the 
French ; the latter to Tunis. It is uncertain which of the 
two is intended by our author. 

2 Carthage was founded by Dido, who is also called 
Elisa, about 100 years before Rome. Upon the murder 
of her husband, (Sichaeus or Acerbas), by Pygmalion her 
brother, she fled from Tyre, and founded this famous city. 
It was for many centuries the rival of Rome, but about 
1 50 B.C. it was destroyed by Scipio, the Roman general. 
It is said to have continued burning for seventeen days. 
Extensive ruins and mounds of earth, extending from the 
sea to the walls of Tunis, along the shore of the lake, with 
here and there a few broken arches of an aqueduct, are all 
that remain of this once proud city, whose circumference, 
it is said, was nearly twenty-four miles. 



I90 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

think it better to be silent, rather than say but little 
on such a subject, and besides, brevity obliges me 
to hasten to another." — Extracted from SalliLst de 
Bello Jtignrthcz, cap. xvii — xix. 



VELLEIUS PATERCULUS and ^MILIUS SURA. 

" The Asiatic empire was subsequently transferred 
from the Assyrians, (who had held it 1,070 years), to 
the Medes, from this time for a period of 870 years. 
For Sardanapalus, King of the Assyrians, a man 
wallowing in luxury, being the thirty-third in succes- 
sion from Ninus and Semiramis, the (reputed) 
founders of Babylon, from whom the kingdom had 
passed in a regular descent from father to son, 
was deprived of his empire, and put to death by 
Arbaces the Mede. . . . yEmilius Sura, also, in his 
Annals of the Roman People, says, That the Assyrian 
princes extended their empire over all nations. They 
were succeeded by the Medes, then by the Mace- 
donians, and shortly afterwards by two kings, Philip 
and Antiochus, both of Macedonian origin, who, not 
long after the destruction of Carthage, were conquered 
by the Romans, who then obtained the empire of 
the world. To this time, from the beginning of the 
reign of Ninus, King of the Assyrians, who first 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 191 

obtained the empire, there has elapsed a period of 
T >995 years." — Extracted from the Roman History 
of Velleius Paterculus, Book i. chap. 6. 



CLEANTHES. 

Cleanthes was a Stoic philosopher, born at Assos, 
in the Troad, about B.C. 264. On his arrival at 
Athens he attended the lectures of Zeno, the Stoic, 
while so great was his poverty that, in order to main- 
tain himself, he was obliged to draw water for the 
gardens of Athens by night, to provide himself the 
means of devoting himself to philosophy by day, 
whence he was nicknamed Phreantes, or the well- 
drawer. He was accustomed, from want of means 
to purchase writing materials, to write down on the 
blade-bones of oxen, and on pieces of pottery, his 
notes of the lectures delivered by Zeno, whose pupil 
he remained for nineteen years, and whom he suc- 
ceded in his school. Among his disciples were King 
Antigonus, and the philosopher Chrysippus. He is 
said to have taught that the sun is the ruling prin- 
ciple of the world. A specimen of his teaching 
has come down to us in his noble hymn to Jupiter, 



I92 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

one of the most sublime efforts of poetry outside the 
canon of revelation : 

The Hymn of Cleanthes. 
Extracted from Stobceus. 

TO JUPITER. 

" O thou who, under several names, art adored, 
but whose power is entire and infinite ; O Jupiter, 
first of immortals, sovereign of nature, governor of 
all, and supreme legislator of all things, accept my 
suppliant prayer, for to man is given the right to 
invoke thee. Whatever lives and moves on this 
earth drew its being from thee ; we are a faint 
similitude of thy divinity. 

I will address, then, my prayers to thee, and never 
will I cease to praise thy wondrous power. That 
universe suspended over our heads, and which 
seems to roll around the earth, obeys thee : it 
moves along, and silently submits to thy mandate. 
The thunder, minister of thy laws, rests under thy 
invincible hands ; flaming, gifted with an immortal 
life, it strikes, and all nature is terrified. Thou 
directest the universal spirit which animates all things, 
and lives in all beings. 

Such, O almighty king, is thy unbounded sway ! 
In heaven, on earth, or in the floods below, there is 
nought performed or produced without thee, except 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 93 

the evil, which springs from the heart of the wicked. 
By thee confusion is changed into order : by thee 
the warring elements are united. By a happy agree- 
ment, thou so blendest good with evil, as to produce 
a general and eternal harmony in all things. But 
man, wicked man, alone breaks this great harmony 
of the world. Wretched being, who seeks after 
good, and yet perceives not the universal law which 
points out the way to render him at once good and 
happy. He abandons the pursuit of virtue and 
justice, and roves where each passion moves him. 
Sordid wealth, fame, and sensual pleasures become, 
by turns, the objects of his pursuit. O God, from 
whom all gifts descend, who sittest in thick darkness, 
thunder-ruling Lord, dispel this ignorance from the 
mind of man ; deign to enlighten his soul ; draw it to 
that eternal reason which serves as thy guide and 
support in the government of the world ; so that, 
honoured with a portion of this light, we may, in our 
turn, be able to honour thee, by celebrating thy great 
works unceasingly in a hymn. This is the proper 
duty of man. For surely nothing can be more de- 
lightful to the inhabitants of the earth or the skies, 
than to celebrate that divine reason which presides 
over nature." — From Rev. II. Card's Literary Recre- 
ations, 1 8 1 1 , p. 10. 



194 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

OF THE CHALDEAN OBSERVATIONS 

From Pliny. 

" Anticlides relates, that letters were invented in 
Egypt, by Menon, fifteen years before Phoroneus, 
the most ancient King of Greece, and he endeavours 
to prove it by the monuments. On the other hand, 
Epigenes, a writer of very great authority, informs us, 
that among the Babylonians, observations of the stars 
were preserved, inscribed upon baked tiles, extending 
to a period of 720 years. Berosus and Kritodemus, 
who are the most moderate in their calculations, 
nevertheless extend the period of the observations to 
480 years. Whence may be inferred the eternal 
use of letters among them." — Nat. Hist. lib. vii., 56. 



For the following interesting extract I am indebted 
to Dr. Samuel Birch, Keeper of Oriental Antiquities 
in the British Museum. 

THE MANNERS OF THE BABYLONIANS. 

From Nicolas of Damascus. 

" In the reign of Artseus, the King of the 
Medes, and one of the successors of Sardanapalus, 
King of the Assyrians, there was amongst the 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 95 

Medes, one Parsondes, a man renowned for his 
courage and strength, and greatly esteemed by the 
King, on account of his good sense, and the beauty 
of his person. He particularly excelled in the chase, 
and in battle, whether he fought on foot, from his 
chariot, or on horseback. Now this Parsondes 
observed, that Nanarus, (the governor or tributary 
king), of Babylon, was very careful in his personal 
attire, and wore ear-rings, and shaved himself care- 
fully, and was effeminate, and unwarlike, and he 
disliked him exceedingly ; so he asked Artseus, the 
King, to deprive Nanarus of his government, and to 
bestow it on himself. But Artseus, having bound 
himself by the compact entered into by Arbaces, was 
loth to act unjustly towards the Babylonian, and 
gave no answer to Parsondes. The matter, however, 
reached the ears of Nanarus, who promised great 
rewards to any one of his sutlers who would catch 
his enemy. It happened one day that Parsondes, 
when hunting, went far from the King, to a plain 
near Babylon. Sending his servants into a neigh- 
bouring wood, that they might drive out, by their 
shoutings, the wild beasts, he remained outside, to 
take the game. Whilst chasing a wild ass he 
separated himself from his attendants, and came to a 
part of the Babylonian territories, where the sutlers 
were preparing markets for Nanarus. Being thirsty, 
he asked of them to drink ; and they, delighted to 
have this opportunity of seizing him, gave him that 



196 cory's ancient fragments. 

which he required, took charge of his horse, and bade 
him refresh himself. They then placed a sumptuous 
feast before him, served him with very sweet wine, 
mixed with a certain intoxicating drug, and brought 
beautiful women to keep him company ; so that, at 
length, overcome by the wine, he fell fast asleep. 
The sutlers then took him, and brought him bound 
to Nanarus. When Parsondes had recovered from 
the effects of the wine, Nanarus upbraided him for 
his conduct. ' Why ' said he, ' did you, who have 
never suffered any wrong at my hands, call me a 
man-woman (androgyne), and ask my government 
of Artseus, as if I were of no account, although of 
noble birth ? Many thanks to him that he did 
not grant your request.' 

Parsondes, nothing abashed, replied, ' Because I 
thought myself more worthy of the honour ; for I 
am more manly, and more useful to the king than 
you, who are shaven, and have your eyes underlined 
with stibium, and your face painted with white-lead.' 
'Are you not ashamed, then,' said Nanarus, 'being 
such as you describe yourself to be, to have been so 
overcome by your stomach and passions, that you 
should have fallen into the hands of one so greatly 
inferior to yourself ? But I will quickly make you 
softer and fairer than any woman.' And he swore 
by Belus, and by Mylitta — for such is the name 
which the Babylonians give to their Venus ; then 
beckoning to a eunuch, 'Lead off' cried he, 'this 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 97 

fellow. Shave, and rub with a pumice-stone, the 
whole of his body, except his head. Bathe him 
twice a day, and anoint him. Let him underline his 
eyes, and plait his hair as women do. Let him learn 
to sing, to play on the harp, and to accompany it 
with his voice, that he may be amongst the female 
musicians; with whom he shall pass his time, having 
a smooth skin, and wearing the same garments as 
they do. The eunuch did as he was commanded, and 
kept Parsondes in the shade, washing him twice 
every day, and polishing him with a pumice stone, 
and making him pass his time in the same way as the 
women, so that he became, very shortly, fair, tender, 
and woman-like ; singing and playing even better 
than any of the female musicians. The King, Artseus, 
having offered a reward, and searched in vain for his 
favourite, at last concluded, that he had been devoured 
by wild beasts whilst hunting. 

Parsondes, having passed seven years in this 
mode of life at Babylon, induced a eunuch, who 
had been severely flogged, and insultingly treated 
by Nanarus, to run away, and inform Artaeus of 
what had happened to him. Artaeus immediately 
sent an envoy, to demand the liberation of his 
former favourite. But Nanarus, frightened, declared 
that he had never seen Parsondes since he had 
disappeared. Artseus, however, sent a second am- 
bassador, much greater in rank, and more powerful 
than the former one, and threatened by letter, to 



198 cory's ancient fragments. 

put to death the Babylonian, unless he delivered up 
his captive. 

Nanarus, being now greatly alarmed, promised to 
give up the man, and, moreover, apologised to the 
ambassador, declaring, that he was sure the King 
would see, that he had justly treated one who had 
endeavoured to ruin him in the King's favour. He 
then entertained the ambassador with a great feast, 
during which entered, to the number of 150, the 
female players, amongst whom was Parsondes. 
Some sang, and others played on the flute ; but the 
Mede excelled them all, both in skill and beauty, so 
that, when the feast was over, and Nanarus asked 
the ambassador, which of the women he thought 
superior to the rest in beauty, and accomplishments, 
he pointed, without hesitation, to Parsondes. Nanarus, 
clapping his hands, laughed a long time, and then 
said, ' Do you wish to take her with you ' ? ' Cer- 
tainly,' replied the ambassador. ' But I will not give 
her to you/ said Nanarus. ' Why then did you ask 
me ?' exclaimed the ambassador. ' This,' said Nanarus, 
after a little hesitation, ' is Parsondes, for whom you 
have come ' ; and, the ambassador disbelieving him, 
he swore to the truth of what he had said. On the 
following day, the Babylonian placed Parsondes in a 
wagon, and sent him away, with the ambassador, to 
Arta^us, who was at Susa. But the King did not re- 
cognise him, and was a long time before he would be- 
lieve that so valiant a man could become a woman. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 1 99 

Parsondes exacted a promise from Artaeus that he 
would revenge him upon Nanarus. And when the 
King came to Babylon, he gave Nanarus ten days to 
do what was right; but the Babylonian, alarmed, 
fled to Mitraphernes, the chief of the eunuchs, and 
promised him, for himself, ten talents of gold and ten 
gold cups, and 200 of silver, and 100 talents of silver 
money, and several suits of clothes ; and for the 
King, 100 talents of gold, and ioo gold cups, and 300 
of silver, and 1,000 talents of silver money, and 
numerous dresses, and other fine gifts, if he would 
save his life, and keep him in the government of 
Babylon. The eunuch, who was held in great 
estimation by the King, succeeded ; but Parsondes 
waited his opportunity, and afterwards, finding an 
occasion, took his revenge both on Nanarus and the 
eunuch." — Quoted in Layard's Nineveh and its 
Remains, vol. ii., p. 329 — 333, as translated by 
Dr. Birch, from the Prodromus Hellenikes Biblio- 
tkekes, 8vo. Paris, 1805, p. 229. 



CANON OF THE KINGS OF EGYPT. 

From Diodorus Siculus. 

" Some of them fable that gods and heroes first 
reigned over Egypt, during little less than 18,000 
years, and that the last of the gods who reigned was 



200 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

Horus, (the son of I sis). They relate, also, that the 
kingdom of Egypt was governed by men during 
nearly 15,000 years, down to the \%oth Olympiad, in 
which we visited Egypt, that is during the reign of 
Ptolemy, called the younger Dionysus, {i.e., Bacchus). 
The kings of Egypt were for the most part natives, 
except the Ethiopians, Persians, and Macedonians, 
who acquired the government for short periods. 
There reigned, altogether four Ethiopians, not in 
succession, but at intervals ; the length of whose 
reigns occupied collectively nearly 36 years. The 
Persians, under their king Cambyses, subdued the 
[Egyptian) nation, by force of arms and occupied the 
throne 135 years, inclusive of the period of the in- 
surrections, which the Egyptians made from time to 
time, unable to endure the severity of their rule, and 
to submit to the impiety displayed by them towards 
the gods of the land. Lastly, the Macedonians and 
their successors reigned 276 years. All the rest of 
the time was filled up with native princes, viz., 470 
kings, and 5 queens. After the gods, Menas {i.e., 
Menes), was the first king of the Egyptians. After 
him, it is said, that two of the descendants of the 
before-named king reigned during more than 1,400 
years. Busiris. Then 8 of his descendants, of whom 
the last bore the same name as the first. He founded 
the city called by the Egyptians the city of the Sun, 
or Diospolis, but by the Greeks, Thebes. The 8th 
descendant of this king bore the surname of his 



CORY S ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 201 

father, Uchoreus, and built the city of Memphis, the 
most celebrated of all the cities of Egypt. Twelve 
generations of kings. Myris (or Mceris), who dug 
the lake above the city of Memphis. Seven gene- 
rations of kings. Sesoosis, whose exploits were the 
most celebrated, and the greatest of all the kings 
who preceded him, fitted out a fleet on the Red Sea, 
of 400 ships, and subdued all the islands, and all 
the parts of the mainland bordering on the sea as 
far as the Indies. He marched, also, with a mighty 
army by land, and subdued all Asia; passed over the 
Ganges, and conquered all India, even to the Ocean, 
and all the nations of the Scythians, and most of the 
islands of the Cyclades. He then invaded Europe, 
and overran all Thrace, and made it {i.e., Thrace), 
the boundary of his military expeditions, and set up 
pillars (crTrjXas) in Thrace and many other places, 
commemorating his conquests. He also divided 
Egypt into 30 parts, which the Egyptians call nomes, 
and appointed governors {iiomarchs) over each nome. 
And, after a reign of 33 years, he destroyed himself, 
on account of the failure of his eyesight. 

Sesoosis, the second, the son of the preceding. 
Many kings succeeded him. 

Amasis, who was conquered by Aktisanes, the 
Ethiopian. 

Aktisanes, the Ethiopian. 

Mendes, an Egyptian, who is the same as Mar- 
rhus. 



202 CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 

He constructed the building called the Labyrinth, 
as a tomb for himself. 

An interregnum for 5 generations. 

Ketna (or Ketes), who is Proteus. 

Rhemphis. 

Seven insignificant kings ruled, of whom no deed 
nor work worthy of record is handed down, except 
of one, who was called N ileus, from whom the river 
receives its name of Nilus 1 , which formerly was 
called ^Egyptus. 

The 8th king was Chembres, the Memphite. He 
reigned 50 years and built the largest of the three 
Pyramids. 

After his death, his brother, Kephren received the 
kingdom, and reigned 56 years. Some say, however, 
that it was not the brother, but the son of Chem- 
bres, who succeeded him, and that his name was 
Chabryis. 

Mykerinus, whom others call Cherinus, the son of 
the builder of the former Pyramid, undertook to 
build a third, but died before the completion of the 
work. 

Tnephachthus. 

Bocchoris (or Bonchoris), the wise, the son of 
Tnephachthus. 

After a long time Sabacon reigned over Egypt, 
being by race an Ethiopian. 



1 In Arabic, NiL signifies blue, hence ' the blue Nile,' 
Bahrat Nccl. 



CORYS ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. 203 

An interregnum of two years. 

Twelve chiefs, 15 years. 

Psammitichus the Saite, who was one of the 
twelve chiefs. 

After four generations reigned Apries, (Pharaoh 
Hophra), 22 years. He was strangled. 

Amasis. He died after a reign of 55 years, at the 
time that Cambyses, king of Persia, invaded Egypt, 
i.e., in the 3rd year of the 63rd Olympiad, in which 
(viz., the Olympic games) Parmenides the Cama- 
rinaean was victor." — From Diodorus Siculus, Hist. y 
Book ii. 



FINIS. 



INDEX, 

RERUM ET VERBORUM. 



Aaron (Aruas), 81, note 

Abascantus, 139 

Abraham, was king of Damascus, according to Justin, 79 

„ „ „ Nicolas of Damascus, 78 

Abydenus, Notice of, 95 ; quoted, 71, 89 

Abyla, a Mountain in Africa (now Ceuta), 28, note; 36,note; 155, note 

Accad, a city, mentioned in Genesis, xxvii 

Accadi or Akkadi, the Accadians, xxvii 

were a Turanian, or Tartar people, allied to the Finns, xxvi, xxvii 

Accadian, or Akkad, words found in the Assyrian and Hebrew Lan- 
guages, xxvii 
Accad Language, treated under the head of Chaldee Language in the 

English Cyclopaedia, xxvii 
Achsemenes, xviii 
Achasmenide Dynasty, xviii 

Acra, a city, mentioned in the Periplus of Hanno, 37 
Acracanus, name of a river near Babylon, 73 

Adores, king of Damascus (in Justin), 79 

Adodus, " king of the Gods," 15 

JEon, 4 

vEsculapius, god of medicine, 14 

Africanus (Julius) Bishop of Emmaus, Notice of, 97 

Agathias, quoted, 92 

Agatharchides of Knidus, quoted, 183 

Agreus and Halieus, Inventors of Hunting and Fishing, 7 

Agrotes, 9 

Agroueros, 9 

Ahriman, the Evil Deity (Satan or Typhon), 132, note 

Ake" (Acco, St. Jean dAcre, Ptolemais), 31 



206 INDEX. 

Akicharus, the prophet of the Bosphorus, or Babylon, 152 

Alaparus, 53 

Alexander the Great, 72, 177 

Alexander Polyhistor, Notice of, 101 

Alorus, the first King of Babylonia, identified with Adi-Ur, 49 

Amegalarus, identified with Amil-ur-gal, 49 

Amempsinus, a Chaldasan, from Larancha? (Larissa), 52 

Amil-ur-gal, a Babylonian king (Amegalarus), 49 

Amillarus, 53 

Amiqa (or Omoroca), the ocean, the deep, 59, note 

Amqia, misprint for Amiqa, 59 

Ammenon, 53 

Ana'itis, the Venus of the Armenians, her worship introduced into 

Persia by Artaxerxes II., 69 
Annals of Tiglath Pileser, xxiv 

of Asurbanipal, translated by Mr. George Smith, xxvi 

of Sargon, published by Dr. Oppert, xxv 

of Ashur-nasir-pal, by Rodwell, xix 

Annedoti, 46 

Annedotus, 51, 53 

Anodaphus, 54 

Anquetil Duperron, xiii, xxii 

Antichdes, quoted, 194 

Antiochus Soter, king of Syria, 43, 44 

Anus, i.e. Anu (Heaven), 92 

Anu, the God, or Heaven deified, 92 

Apason, the husband of Tauthe, 92 

Apis, the deified bull, 134 

Apollodorus, Notice of, 96; quoted, 51 — 57 

Arab, xvi 

Arabian dynasty, 46 

Arambys, a City mentioned in the Periplus, 37 

Ararat, the Hebrew name of Armenia, 62, note 

Ardates (or Otiartes), the 9th antediluvian king of Babylon, 49, 60 

Arguin, Island of, 38 

Ark, 54, 61, 62, 63, 74, 75 

Armenia, 54, 62, 63, 74 

Artaxerxes II., son of Ochus, introduces idolatry among the Persians, 69 



INDEX. 207 

Asclepiades, xxxiii 

Asclepius, 14 

Ashteroth-Karnaim, i.e. the two-horned Astarte, a City of Bashan, 15, 

note 
Ashur-banipal, called also Asurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, xxvi 
Ashte, in the compound Hebrew word, Ashtay-'asar, an Assyrian 

word, xxviii 
Asordanius (Esarhaddon), King of Assyria, 86 
Assorus, 92 
Assyria, Expeditions to, for Cuneiform Investigation 

Dr. Oppert's, xxv 

Mr. George Smith's, xxx, note 

Assyrian grammar, by M. Joachim Menant, xxvi 

dictionary, compiled and published by Dr. E. Norris, xxv 

Excavations, xvi., xxx., xxxi., note 

Decipherment, Historical Account of, xxi 

Assyrians, The, spoke a language cognate with Hebrew, xxvi 

were a Semitic people, xxvi 

Assyrio-Babylonian words, glossary of, by Mr. Fox Talbot, xxvi 
Astarte, a Phoenician Goddess, is the Aphrodite of the Greeks and the 

Venus of the Romans, 16, 30 

puts on her head as a sign of sovereignty a bull's head, 15 

Asur-banipal, his Annals published by Mr. George Smith, xxvi 

his library not all published, xxx 

Asur-nasir-pal, B.C. 883 ; his annals translated by Rodwell, xix 
Athena, or Athene (Minerva), a Daughter of Kronus, 11 

receives from Kronus the Kingdom of Attica, 16 

Athenocles, 92 

Atlas, a son of Ouranos and Ge (Heaven and Earth), n 

Aus, i.e. Hea, the sea, one of the three great gods of Babylon, 92 

Avaris, a Typhonian city, the refuge of the expelled shepherds, ioo, 

126, 127, 128, 132, note; 133, 146 
Axerdes, son of Nergilus, levied mercenary soldiers, 89 
Azelmicus, a King, 16, note 

Baal, called Jupiter Olympius by Dius, 27 ; 28, note 
Baaltis, or Dione, a goddess, 17 
Baaut (night), 4, note 



2o8 INDEX. 

Baau, wife of Kolpiyah, 4 

Babylon, properly Bab-ilu, means Gace of God, 55, note ; jj 

Baitylia, stones so called, consecrated to various gods, 14, note 

Balsacus, 32 

Behistun, Inscription of Darius Hystaspes, xx, xxi 

Bel, formerly called Merodach, son of Hea and Davkina, 92 

Belus (the same as Kronus), 82 

his Temple at Babylon, 60, 90, 91 

Berathena, a city of Arabia or Syria, 5, note 
Berbers and Getulians mentioned, 187, note 
their language belongs to the sub-Semitic branch of the Semitic 

languages, 187 
Berosus, was Priest of Bel, Notice of, 43, 50 
Beruth, i.e. JT-13, BERITH, covenant, the wife of Elioun, 10 
Berytus (Beyroot) the Port of Damascus, 17 
Birch, Dr., quoted, xiv., xv., 194 
Biuris, 139 

Bocchoris, King of Egypt, 144 
Borsippus (Borsippa), 68 
Bunsen (Baron), his work " Egypt's Place in History" quoted, 104, 108, 

152 ; 125, note 
Byblus (Gebal in Hebrew, now called Jebail), xxxiv, note 
Mysteries of Adonis or Tammuz celebrated at, 12, 17, 12, note 

Cabiri, or Dioscuri, the Samothracian Deities so-called, 10; 3, note ; 

18 ; 19, note 
Cadiz, or Gades, temple of the Tyrian Hercules at, 7, note 
Canaan (Chna) the native name of Phoenicia, 19, note 
Casius, Mount, 5, 174, note 
Chaldasan Account of the Deluge, 49, 52, 54, 60 

Dynasties, 46 

Chaos, 2, note 

Chna (called the first Phoenician), 19 

Chrusarthes, formerly called Thuro, 21 

Chrysor, i.e. Vulcan, deified under the name of Diamichius, 7, 8 

Clay Tablets, xvii, 194 

Cleanthes, Notice of his Life, 191 

His Hymn to Jupiter, 192 



INDEX. 209 

Clemens, Bishop of Alexandria, quoted, 69, 96 

Composite creatures, 58 

Cotiaei, a city of Phrygia, birth-place of Alexander Polyhistor, 101 

Creation, Account of the, 1 — 3, 59, 60 

Cybele (Rhea) the mother of the gods, note, 14 

Cyprus, an Assyrian inscription of Sargon found there, now in the 

Berlin Museum, gives us the divine name Yau, Greek IAH, xxix 
Cyrus or Cyropolis, a city of Syria, 105, note 

Daas, Plain of, Cyrus slain there, 88 

Dache, corresponds to the Lahma of the cuneiform texts, 92 

Dachus, corresponds to the Lahama of the cuneiform, 92 

Daesia and Daesius, Macedonian month, corresponds to our May and 

June, 54, 60 
Dagan, in Greek SITON, corn, 12, note 
Dag5n, a god of the Philistines, 12, note 
Damascius, quoted, 92 

Damascus, so called from a king of that name, 79 
Danaus, 130 

Daonus, or Daos, the shepherd, 51, 53 

Davke, i.e. Davkina, goddess of the lower regions, and wife of Hea, 92 
Death, genius of, called Muth by the Phoenicians, 17 
Deluge tablets, in the cuneiform character, discovered and translated 

by Mr. George Smith, 48 
Demetrius, king of Syria, son of Antigonus, 177 
Diamichius, the great inventor, 8 
Dido, Foundress and Queen of Carthage, 30 
Diodorus Siculus, quoted, 83, 143 
Dionysus, (Heb. -a-i p*i), Bacchus, 91, note 
Diospolis, Thebes, called no in the Bible, 138, note ; 200 
Dravidian Languages, 167, note 

El-'Elyon, the most High God, 10, note 

Elioun, Hypsistos, 10 . 

Elohim (gods), plural of Eloah, 13, note 

Eluteus, king of Tyre, 30, 3 1 

Eneuboulos, 54 

Eneugamus, 53 



2IO INDEX. 

Enyalian Jove, the worship of, transferred to Shinar in Babylonia, 74 
Epigenes says the Babylonians wrote on baked tiles, 194 
Erastosthenes, the Cyrenian, notice of, 96 ; his Theban canon, 138 
Erythrean Sea, designates both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, 51, 

52 
Euedochus, 53 
Euedoreschus, 52, 54 
Euemerus, or Euhemerus, quoted, 172 
Eupolemus, quoted, 82 

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, notice of, 1, note 
Evil Merodach, man, i.e., servant of Merodach), 72, 88 
Exodus of the Israelites, 135, note 

Fox, Talbot, Mr., translated the inscription of Tiglath-Pileser, i., 



Gaetulians and Libyans mentioned, 186 

Ge (i.e., earth) married Ouranos (heaven), 10, 11, 12 

Gebal, i.e., Byblus, xxxiv, note 

Gideon (called Jerubaal), 19, note 

Gorillas, i.e., gorillas, the name first occurs in Hanno's Periplus, 40 

Hea (Aus) god of the Sea and Hades, (i.e. of the lower regions gene- 
rally), son of Anu, 92 
Hecatasus of Abdera, quoted 177 — 183 

Heliopolis, city of the Sun, called On in the Scriptures, note, 132 
Herodotus, quoted, 84 

Hiempsal, king, xxxiv. ; quotation from the Punic books of, 186 
Hierosyla, so called from plundering and sacrilege, Jerusalem, 143 
Hierichus (Jericho), 81 

Hippo, two cities on north coast of Africa so called, 189, note 
Histiaeus, quoted, 74 
Hyk-shos, or Hyk-s6s, Shepherd-Kings, 127 

were subdued by Alisphragmuthosis, 128 

Hylobii (i.e. dwellers in forests ; from v\i), a wood, and /3ww, to live) 

Hypsistus, i.e. Elioun, the husband of Beruth, 10 

Hypsuranius, the same as Memrumus, 6, 7, note 

iah, i.e. Yau, or Yahu, identified with Jehovah, xxviii., xxix. 



INDEX. 211 

II, or Israel, name of Kronus), 21, 35, note 

Illinus i.e. Elu=the Earth, one of the three great gods, 92 

Ilus, i.e. Kronus, or Israel, or II, 11, 13, 21, 36 

Isiris, the inventor of the three letters, and brother of Chna, 19 

Israel (a Phoenician name of Kronus), 21, note 

Jeoud, or Yeood, i.e. Yakhid, only son ; name of a son of Kronus by 

the nymph Anobret, 22, note 
Jerusalem, 183 

Jove (the Enyalaean), mentioned, 74 
Jove, i.e. Jupiter, or Zeus in the Greek language 
Jupiter Ammon, ruins of his temple in the Oasis of Siwah, 144, note 

Keft, the ancient name of Phoenicia, xv., note 

Khasis-Adra (Xisuthrus) 49, note 

Kronus, or II, or Israel, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 

compared with Abraham, 17, note 

Ktesias, quoted, 83, 

Lahmu and Lahamu, identified by Mr. George Smith, with Dache and 

Dachus, 92. See under Dache in the Index. 
Laranchae (Larissa, or Larsa), 52, note 
Larissa, or Larsa, now called Senkereh, 52, note 
Larissa (Laranchae or Larsa), 52, note 
Lixitas, natives of Africa, 37 
Lixus, a river in Africa, 37 

Manetho, notice of, 104 — 5 

Introduction to the Lists of, 104 — 5 

his name assumed by another, 109, note; forgeries issued under 

his name, 1 52 
Megasthenes, notice of, 95 
lived at Palibothra ; ambassador to the Court of Sandracottu?, 

168, note ; quoted, 155 
Melikarthus, or Melcarth, the Baal, or Hercules of Tyre, 15, 27, note ; 

28, note 
Alenander, quoted, 29 — 32 



212 INDEX. 

Merodach, the god of Babylon, afterwards called Bel, was son of Hea 

and Davkina, 92 
Merodach, called the Demiurgus, or creator, 92 
Misor, the establisher of government in Egypt, 9, note 
Misr, is the modern name of Egypt in the Arabic language, note, 9 
Mitzraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt, 9, note 
Miinter, Bp., quoted, 7, note 
Mylitta, Assyrian name of Venus, 196 

Movers, Dr., his article on Sanchoniathon, referred to, note, xxxv 
Moymis and Tauthe, of Damascius, identified with Mummu-Tiamatu, 

" the sea-chaos," by Mr. George Smith. See his Chaldcean Account 

of Genesis, 64 
Moses, called Osarsiph, 132, note ; 133, 135 

Nephilim, i.e. fallen ones, or giants, 6, 77, note 

Neptune, Poseidon in Greek, 17, 171 

Norris, Edwin, his dictionary of the Assyrian language 

OMOROCA, 59 

Panic, a kind of grain, 147 

Pantibiblon (Sippara) 51, 52, note 

Parsondes, a favourite of Artaeus, is caught by Nanarus and put into 

his harem 
Periplus of Hanno, Introduction to, 35 

Philo of Byblus, translated Sanchoniathon's work into Greek, 1 
Phoenicia, ancient name of, Keft, xv., note 
Phreantes, a nickname of Cleanthes, 191 
Pillars of Hercules, i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar, 28, 35, 36, 155 
Polemo, quoted, 146 
Ptolemy the Mendesian, 100, 146 
Pythagoras, a Soldier in the Army of Axerdes, 89 

Rawlinson, Sir Henry, publishes the Behistun Inscription, xx 
Renan, Ernest, Professor, mentioned, xxiii 

wrote on the sources of Sanchoniathon's History, xxxv 

Rosetta stone, contains a trigrammaticai inscription, xiv 

Sacea, the feast of, celebrated at Babylon, 68 



INDEX. 213 

Safed, a city of Galilee, Tyrian coins found there in 1855, 27, note 

Salatis, or Saites, 118, 126 

Samdan, the Assyrian name of Hercules, 92, note 

Sandes, (properly Samdan), the Assyrian name of Hercules, 92 

Sennacherib, 86, 87, 88, 89 

Seth, or Set, Typhon, the asinine deity of the Syrian tribes, whence in 

the cuneiform inscriptions Syria is called " donkey-land/' imiri-su 

from -non. 
Sethosis, 129 

Shaddai (Almighty) confounded with sadeh, a field, 9, note 
Shepherds, also called Captives, 128 ; driven out by Tethmosis, 100, 

129, 133 
Sibyl, The, quoted, 75 
Sinecherim, 87, 88 

Sippara (Pantibiblon) city of, the Sepharvaim of Scripture, note, 51 
Siriadic land, 109, 151 

pillars, or columns ; or columns of Seth, 152 

Sisithrus (Xisuthrus) 49, 54, 85 

Siton (Corn in Greek, in Hebrew, dagan), 12, note 

Smith (George) interprets the Deluge Tablets, 48 

Smith, G., his Chaldaean Account of Genesis mentioned, note, 50, 92 

Sydyk, the righteous one, 10, note ; father of the Cabiri, 19 

Syncellus, George, notice of, 102, 104, 106 

Syria, called " ass-land,'' imirisu, in the cuneiform inscriptions ; 

worshipped Set or Seth, or Typhon. 

Taautus (or Thoor, or Thoyth, or Thoth), i.e., Hermes, 10, 1 1 
Talbot, Fox, Mr., translates the inscription of Tiglath Pileser i., xxiv 
Tamil words found in the Hebrew Scriptures, 167, note 
Tammuz, i.e., Adonis (Duzi or Turzi, in the cuneiform), 12 

„ the Mysteries of celebrated by the Jews, 12, note 

„ „ „ at Athens, ibid 

„ „ „ at Byblus, 13 

Tauthe (Mother of the Gods, and Wife of Apason), the same as tamti, 

the Sea, 92 
Technites, i.e., the Artist, 8 
Teredon, a City built by Nebuchadnezzar, 73 
Tethmosis, or Tuthmosis, the Expeller of the Shepherds, 100, 133 



214 INDEX. 

Thebes in Egypt, called No and Ammon No in our Bible, 138, note 

Thoth, i.e., Hermes, or Mercury, 3, 11, 19 

Troglodytae, i.e., Cave-Dwellers (Periplus), 37 

Typhon, Set, the asinine Deity of the Syrians, who are called by 

Balaam "children," i.e., " worshippers of Seth," 132 
Tyre, a Holy City, note 16, 27 note 

Ubara-Tutu, i.e., Ardates, or Otiartes, 49 

Ur, eldest Son of Bel, a Babylonian Deity so called, 51, note ; 53, note 
Usdus, name of a God mentioned in the Cuneiform Inscriptions, and 
also of a Suburb of Tyre, so called, 6. 

Velleius Paterculus, quoted, 190 
Venus, called Anaitis by the Assyrians, 92 

„ Aphrodite by the Greeks, 16 

„ Astarte by the Phoenicians, 16 

Vulcan (in Greek, Hephaestus), is identified with Tubal Cain, and 

with bil-kan, God of Fire, Son of Anu, by Mr. G. Smith, in 

Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 56 

Xisuthrus, or Tsisit or Sisit (Khasis-Adra, the hero of the Flood) 
49.85 

Zeus, the Greek name of Jupiter, the Ammon of the Egyptians ; the 

Belus, Bel, or Baal of the Semitic nations, 10, note 
Zoganes (the Hebrew i?d, Sagan, i.e., chief, or ruler), 68 
Zoroaster (Zerdusht), xii., xiii 



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